From Mount Union’s Dynasty to River Falls’ Rise: The History of Division III Football
By Peter Mann
Whether it be a different winner in each of the last five seasons, or the monumental, decade-long contest between 2005 and 2014, the NCAA Division III football championship certainly throws something different and unique at its fans.
Last time around, and victory for Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons, was not only the first in their long, 131-year history, but also for Head Coach Matt Walker in his swansong with the program, in what was his fourteenth season at the helm, before heading on to pastures new with Drake Bulldogs.
As for a rivalry, look no further than the one between the Mount Union Purple Raiders and the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks, the pair clashing nine times between 2005 and 2014 and winning six championships apiece over a thirteen-year period.
Early History
The NCAA Division III Championship, where programs contest the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (named after multiple-sports coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, 1862-1965), first sprang forth in the early seventies, with the first victors, Dave Maurer’s Wittenberg Tigers, romping to a 41-0 shutout success against Juniata College Eagles.
Maurer and Wittenberg were, at this time, a match made in heaven, with the latter leading them to a second Division III Championship two years later, this time whitewashing the Ithaca Bombers 28-0, both games having been played at the Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama.
During his tenure at Wittenberg, Maurer led the Tigers to a pair of National Championships and eight Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships (1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, and 1981).
Wittenberg were also runners-up in the 1978 and 1979 championship games, losing 24-10 to Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets, and 14-10 to Ithaca (they avenged their 1975 drubbing, just), respectively – he also led the Tigers to the inaugural Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (West Region Championship) back in 1969, seeing off William Jewell Cardinals 27-21, Springfield, Ohio.
Pre-1973, colleges in Division II were regionalised, West (Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl) and East (Knute Rockne Bowl, named after Notre Dame stalwart Knute Rockne, 1888-1931), for four seasons, with the creation of Division III ‘stabilising’ the college game in time for the 1973 season.
Ithaca’s victory over Wittenberg was their only success from five visits to the championship game, losing out in 1974, 1975, 1980, and 1985, compared with Wittenberg winning two and losing two – at this time, Ithaca were under the guidance of their legendary Head Coach, Jim Butterfield (1967-1993, 278 games).
The Augustana (Illinois) Vikings were the first real powerhouse of the Division III Championship, though they dominated the mid-eighties; after dropping a 14-0 shutout loss to the West Georgia Braves in ’82, Bob Reade led them to four consecutive championships (1983-86), having only been in the job for four seasons prior.
Their dominance also encompassed an impressive twelve College Conference of Illinois and & Wisconsin (CCIW) titles (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994), Reade running the rule over some 170 games in sixteen seasons, four of which were undefeated, consecutively, between ’83 and ‘86.
Between Augustana’s last success, in ’86, and the start of Mount Union’s dominance in the late nineties, there would be eight differing victors in nine years. Ithaca Bombers claimed the 1988 and 1992 titles alongside successes for Wagner Seahawks in ‘87, Dayton Flyers ‘89, Allegheny Gators ‘90, Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles in ’92 and ‘95, Mount Union ‘93, and Albion Britons ’94.
Mount Union Purple Raiders
Founded over 130 years ago, the Purple Raiders would not start winning titles until the mid-1980s.
Since then however, they’ve been relentless, notching some thirty-six Ohio Athletic Conference titles (1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994 shared, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025), and thirteen National Championships (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017), with an impressive, 24 consecutive titles, first under Larry Kehres, then Vince Kehres, landing between 1992 and 2015.
Larry Kehres was a quarterback for the Purple Raiders in the late sixties, before returning as first offensive coordinator for a little over a decade (1974-85), then taking the reins himself for well over two decades (1986-2012), leading the program for some 359 games (332-24-3).
Kehres Senior is also credited with starting up and coaching Mount Union’s swimming team between 1974 and 1986, such was his athletic abilities; his son, Vincent Kehres, was a defensive end for the Purple Raiders in the mid-nineties, before joining the coaching staff a few years later, in 2000.
Five years after joining the coaching staff, Kehres Junior was made defensive coordinator from 2005 to 2012, before leading them to further glory during his brief spell at the helm from 2013 to 2019, adding to his father’s legacy.
Those successes in the 1990s, though, certainly paved the way to the unprecedented success achieved since the turn of the millennium, an unparalleled run that may never be witnessed again, or not for a very long time anyway, that Kehres’ legacy is second to none.
Rowan Profs were beaten four times during the nineties, in 1993 (34-24 to Mount Union), 1995 (36-7 to Wisconsin-La Crosse), 1996 (56-24 against Mount Union) and 1998 (44-24, also to Mount Union), with Lycoming Warriors being crushed (61-12) between the latter two victories over Rowan.
A narrow national final was won in 2000, Saint John’s Johnnies being edged 10-7, before Bridgewater Eagles and Trinity (Texas) Tigers were beaten, 30-27 and 48-7 respectively, as the Purple Raider Raiders three-peated.
The Johnnies stemmed the Purple Raiders’ juggernaut with a 24-6 revenge victory in the 2003 championship game, before the Kehres reign saw the rivalry between the Purple Raiders and the Warhawks, which spanned a decade of national championship games between 2005 and 2014.
Raiders and Warhawks Collide During Fifteen-Year Showreel
Between them, over a fifteen-year spell, the Mount Union Purple Raiders and Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks amassed a combined 432 games (overall), regularly meeting in the end-of-season dance.
On nine occasions, the pair collided in the Division III National Championship game, the Warhawks winning six (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014) to the Raiders’ three (2005, 2006, and 2008), Lance Leipold at the helm for all the Warhawks’ successes.
Leipold played quarterback for the Warhawks in the mid-eighties, before joining their coaching staff in his first two years after graduation; he returned for a year in 1990, before moving to Nebraska, where, between 1994 and 2006, he was, primarily, on the coaching staff with the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, with a brief spell as assistant coach at the Cornhuskers sandwiched between (2001-03).
A return to Wisconsin-Whitewater arrived in 2007, going on to enjoy a relatively successful, eight seasons as Head Coach, leading them to five, unbeaten championship winning seasons (15-0).
The first victory against the Raiders in the championship game prevented a three-peat; in 2007, Mount Union had won the previous two finals against the Warhawks, 35-28 (2005) and 35-16 (2006) – it was Leipold’s first at the helm, having replaced Bob Berezowitz.
Mount Union avenged their 2007 loss with a 31-26 victory the following year, before Leipold’s men went on a championship-winning spree, claiming five of the next six Division III championships, all against the Raiders.
Of the meetings between the two programs, the biggest win came in 2013, the Warhawks winning 52-14, whilst the highest scoring game came twelve months later, in 2014, this time the Warhawks edging a 77-point game, 43-34, in Salem, Virginia.
The successes of the Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks, under the guidance of Lance Leipold, bettered those of Mount Union and fell just shy of the eighties showing of Augustana (Illinois) Vikings’ four-in-a-row between ’83 and ’86.
The Raiders, under Kehres Senior, won six in seven national championships between 1996 and 1998 and 2000 and 2002, whilst the Warhawks’ success under Leipold saw them win five in six, with a three-peat coming 2009-11, adding two more in 2013 and 2014.
Mount Union did revisit the championship game on three further occasions, winning in 2015 (49-35 over St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies) and 2017 (12-0 against Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders), before losing the third in 2018 (24-16 to the Crusaders).
Wisconsin-Whitewater would also make an appearance in the 2019 championship game, going down 41-14 against the North Central (Illinois) Cardinals, in what was the lowest-attended game since 1985.
The three consecutive championship games which involved Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2016-18, were close-knit affairs, with them winning two of the three, in 2016 and 2018, first a 10-7 success over Wisconsin-Oshkosh, then a 24-16 win against Mount Union, losing the middle one, to Mount Union, in a 12-0 shut-out success for the Purple Raiders.
Changing of the Guard, And The Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons
The pandemic put paid to the 2020 season, and with Mary-Hardin-Baylor (2016, 2018, 2021) and North Central (2019, 2022, 2024) winning three apiece either side of it, four differing programs have lifted the championship in the past decade, and numerous first-time victors, since the turn of the millennium.
Of those first-time successes, the Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders claimed their first as recently as a decade ago, with that defeat of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; North Central Cardinals won their first with the 41-14 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks (2019); whilst three years ago, Cortland Red Dragons just about saw off the challenge of North Central 38-37, in a battling, championship finale.
Cortland claimed the Empire 8 conference, with a 9-1 record, before moving through the playoffs with victories over Endicott Gulls (23-17), Grove City (25-24), a high-scoring game against Alma College (58-41), and Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets (49-14) in the semi-finals.
Their championship games opponents, North Central Cardinals, meanwhile took the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) with an undefeated, 10-0 record, before a play-off run saw them whitewash Belhaven Blazers (65-0), thrash Trinity (Texas) Tigers (71-28), edge Wisconsin-La Crosse (55-42), before seeing off Wartburg Knights (34-27) in the semis.
Then came the championship dance, in Salem, Virginia, as two programs that had put up 380 points (Cortland 155pts, North Central 225pts) between them, well, it was destined to be a close-knit affair, and so it proved.
More surprising about the game was that the opening quarter was scoreless, and, come the end of the second quarter, the score was only 7-3 in North Central’s favour; then came the second half, and 65 points were put on the board over two exhilarating quarters of football.
Cortland’s Zac Boyes finished the game with 349yds, 5TDs (passing), connecting twice apiece with Cole Burgess and Joe Iadevaio, as well as with JJ Laap, whilst replying for North Central, Luke Lehnen registered 179yds, 2TDs (passing), connecting with DeAngelo Hardy and Charles Coleman, whilst also rushing for a pair of scores, Joe Sacco adding another.
The contest, which went in Cortland’s favour, was decided with ninety seconds left on the game clock, stopping a 2-point try conversion that would have given North Central a third championship in four outings; Cortland, though, recovered an onside kick and ran down the clock.
And then there was last season, and the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons…
With HC Matt Walker pulling the strings in his last season at the helm, and quarterback Kaleb Blaha leading the offense on his way to a Bowl-winning, MVP Gagliardi Trophy performance against the North Central (Illinois) Cardinals, the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons finally delivered.
Walker’s predecessor, John O’Grady, delivered a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship back in 1998, the standout of his 22 seasons at the helm. Walker, their third coach since 1970 (Mike Farley held the post between 1970 and 1988), finally took them to the promised land following a dramatic change in fortunes following the COVID intervention.
Pre-2020 and Walker’s Falcons had endured nine straight losing seasons in his first nine campaigns, including a 0-10 outing back in 2013, then COVID struck, and everything changed at Wisconsin.
A 9-2 season in 2021 saw the first of four third-place finishes and back-to-back Isthmus Bowl successes, both against Washington University Bears; although there wasn’t to be a third bowl visit in either of 2023 or 2024, last time around was stunning in comparison to what had previously been witnessed.
In what was an historic senior year for Blaha, the Falcons soared to a 9-1 regular, 14-1 overall season, the only reverse coming back in week four, edged 21-17 at Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans, before winning their next eleven straight.
Opponents were, on the main, brushed aside; Belhaven Blazers suffered a 65-point shutout loss in week three, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds shipped 73 in week seven, whilst Coe Kohawks, Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers, and Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks all shipped 50-plus points.
The came their devastating, post-season run, the Falcons adding five more victories to an illustrious send-off for both Walker, and Blaha; in the Second Round, Chapman Panthers was beaten 58-7 with Blaha putting up 17/23, 227 yards, 4TDs (passing), 81 yards, 1TD (rushing), whilst in the Third Round it would be Saint John’s Johnnies that would be dismissed, 42-14, the Falcons gun-slinger posting 22/28, 245 yards, 3TDs (passing), 97 yards, 1TD (rushing).
Three consecutive quarters of thirteen points apiece set the Falcons on their way to a 46-21 success in the quarter-final against Wheaton College Thunder as Blaha threw for another four scores, and running back Trevor Asher added 106 yards, 3TDs (rushing) of his own.
That set up a semi-final dance with Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, the Falcons facing perhaps their toughest test of the season before eventually moving on with a 48-41 victory; the Blue Jays actually led 27-21 at the half, but a twenty-point third quarter spun the game on its head, with Blaha notching another five scores, and running back Jaylen Reed nicking a rushing TD of his own.
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl against North Central again nearly saw the rails come off before a second-half turnaround, the Cardinals leading 14-10 before being shut out, conceding fourteen unanswered, and losing 24-14 as Blaha, who else, saw the Falcons through and posted 27/41, 291 yards, 1TD (passing), 128 yards, 2TDs (rushing).
Now, as they head into their defence in 2026, the Falcons look to Jake Wissing, in an interim status, stepping up from his previous position of the past five years as defensive coordinator.
Whatever happens next, well that’s anyone’s guess….
PETER MANN
NFL ANALYST
PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter