By George Kopf (@GeorgeKopf19)
Most teams will come up short of the ultimate prize: winning a championship. Few teams will actually get to experience a championship game. Even fewer can say they have summited the mountain to an elusive trophy. A select few get to experience the euphoria of winning multiple championships, and only a handful of athletes and coaches can say they have won back-to-back titles.
Ferris State finds themselves on the verge of completing one of the toughest accomplishments in sports when they take the field on Saturday afternoon. With only the Colorado School of Mines standing between them and a second consecutive Division II National Championship, the Bulldogs are certainly going to give it their all against the Orediggers.
Returning to McKinney, TX, Ferris State (13-1) will have their hands full, preparing to face the best offense in the nation and the best pass rushing defense. Having seen strong pass rushes earlier this season and recently in these playoffs, Head Coach Tony Annese vocalized a simple game plan for success.
"We want to minimize getting behind the chains on offense," said Annese. "Run the ball effectively, get ahead of the chains, not give them down and distances where they can pin their ears back and get after our quarterback.
"I'm 100% uncomfortable all the time when we have to throw the ball on second-and-13 or third-and-16," Annese added. "Hopefully we can just stay ahead of the chains, and not put ourselves at a disadvantage".
Just two weeks ago, Ferris State's offense did stay ahead of the chains enough to beat top-ranked Grand Valley State, holding a vaunted pass rush relatively quiet. That win avenged a midseason 22-21 loss to the Lakers that looking back, changed how the Bulldogs would approach the rest of the season.
"They [losses] are hard to deal with, but our guys just owned it," Annese said. "You can tell by the results from that point on that we fought through it, persevered, and played great football."
Those results Coach Annese are referring to: eight straight wins, allowing 15 points per game, and reaching a second straight national championship game.
While the offense is holding its own, the Ferris State defense has bullied opponents week after week, especially during the playoff run. Senior defensive end Caleb Murphy has led the charge for the defensive unit, increasing confidence that the group will do its job.
"If we get in trouble, we'll just punt it since our defense is really good," said Annese. "Hopefully our defense will hold up against a great Mines offense."
Speaking of that Mines offense, senior quarterback John Matocha leads the Orediggers into their first national championship game in program history. The Texas native's ability to extend plays and find receivers downfield has been more than enough to help his team reach this point. Matocha is one of the nine Harlon Hill Trophy finalists, the award given to the best athlete in Division II football.
"We do a number of different things personnel-wise to put John in the best possible situations to be successful," Colorado Mines Head Coach Brandon Moore said. "John is able to create on his own and we see that week in and week out." Moore, in his first year as head coach, will have to navigate his playcalling against a stout Ferris State defense on Saturday.
The 49th Division II National Championship Game is sure to be a four-quarter battle between the Bulldogs and Orediggers. The schools square off on Saturday with kickoff set for 12:00 p.m. Central Time from McKinney ISD Stadium. The game will be nationally televised live on ESPNU, and we'll be cheering for the good guys from Big Rapids, MI.
