A championship game is expected to have a championship moment. It belonged to the College of DuPage Chaparrals, who are the inaugural NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Division III national champions.
Freshman wide receiver Matthew Brown broke free from his wide-out position with 21 seconds left in the game, and quarterback Brooks Blount connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass for a come-from-behind 34-29 champioinship victory over Nassau (N.Y.) Community College before a crowd of 2,500 on a brisk December afternoon at COD’s Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium in Glen Ellyn.
“I guess it is the biggest play of my life,” said Brown, who earned the game’s most valuable player honors for his only catch of the day. “There was no way I wasn’t going to score. I even extended my hands to break the plane so it would count.”
The Chaps survived against the visiting Lions, who overcame a 21-point deficit with 22 unanswered points in the second half, eventually grabbing the lead with 40 seconds left on Joshua Arevalo’s 28-yard field goal for a 29-28 lead.
Chaps head coach and national coach of the year Matthew Rahn said that with 40 seconds left and one time out remaining, the game may have seemed dire, but his team was prepared for one last successful final drive.
“In all probability, we’re looking to get in range for a field goal attempt,” he said. “We had the time and a time out to make something happen.”
After Nassau’s successful field goal, the Chaps’ Jessi Plunkett took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 18 yards to the COD 44.
On first down, Blount scrambled and went up the middle for an eight-yard gain. A personal foul was called on a late hit, and that moved the Chaps 15 yards closer to the Nassau 33.
After an incomplete pass, the game-winning play called for a mesh pattern, where Brown lined up on the right side with teammate Chase Mendoza to his immediate left.
“I thought Chase set a great pick, and I was able to run and get open on a seam route to the inside,” Brown said.
“Matthew was the primary receiver on the play,” Blount said. “I saw that he had maybe a step-and-a-half on the d-back and that was enough to get the pass to him.”
And just like that, the Chaps drove three plays in just 13 seconds and held on to secure the first national championship for the sport in school history.
The Chaps, 9-2 overall, were in command throughout the first half, and led 14-0 thanks to a one-yard touchdown run by Tom Trieb in the opening quarter, and a 76-yard scamper by Darrell Smith with 48 seconds prior to halftime.