2026 Stagg Bowl

2026 NCAA Division III Football Championship
Stagg Bowl LII
Wisconsin–River Falls Falcons North Central Cardinals (13–1) (14–0) WIAC CCIW 24 14 Head coach:  Matt Walker Head coach:  Brad Spencer
1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin–River Falls 3 7 7 7 24 North Central 7 7 0 0 14
Date	January 4, 2026
Season	2025
Stadium	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
Location	Canton, Ohio
MVP	Kaleb Blaha, QB, Wisconsin–River Falls[1]
Referee	Matt Buche
Attendance	2,403
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN/ESPN+
NCAA Division III Football Championship  ← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 NCAA Division III Football Championship Game, more commonly referred to as the 2026 Stagg Bowl or Stagg Bowl LII, was a postseason college football game scheduled played on January 4, 2026, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. It determined a national champion in NCAA Division III for the 2025 season. The game began at 8:00 p.m. EST, and aired on ESPN and ESPN+. The game featured the two finalists of the 40-team single elimination playoff bracket, Wisconsin–River Falls and North Central; Wisconsin–River Falls won 24–14 to claim their first national championship on their first trip to the Stagg Bowl.

Teams

The participants of the 2026 NCAA Division III Football Championship Game were the finalists of the 2025 Division III Playoffs, a 40-team single elimination brackets tournament which began on November 22. The winners of each of the four 10-team regions qualified for the national semifinals.^[2]

National semifinals

	Semifinals December 20, 2025 Asterisk denotes host					National Championship January 4, 2026 Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, OH
		John Carroll	21
	*	North Central	41
						North Central		14
						Wisconsin–River Falls		24
	*	Wisconsin–River Falls	48
		Johns Hopkins	41

Game summary

2026 Stagg Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Wisconsin–River Falls	3	7	7	7	24
North Central	7	7	0	0	14

at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium • Canton, Ohio

• Date: Sunday, January 4, 2026
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 26 °F (−3 °C) • Wind: SE at 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h)
• Game attendance: 2,403
• Referee: Matt Buche
• TV: ESPN/ESPN+
• Reference: ^[3]

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Wisconsin–River Falls North Central 1 12:57 4 73 1:57 North Central Donovan McNeal 48-yard touchdown run, Aidan Ellison kick good 0 7 1 5:48 12 81 4:06 Wisconsin–River Falls 25-yard field goal by Justin Scheberl 3 7 2 11:07 15 73 9:38 North Central Donovan McNeal 1-yard touchdown run, Aidan Ellison kick good 3 14 2 4:50 8 75 2:44 Wisconsin–River Falls Blake Rohrer 13-yard touchdown reception from Kaleb Blaha, Justin Scheberl kick good 10 14 3 2:51 7 59 2:32 Wisconsin–River Falls Kaleb Blaha 7-yard touchdown run, Justin Scheberl kick good 17 14 4 8:44 1 12 0:06 Wisconsin–River Falls Kaleb Blaha 12-yard touchdown run, Justin Scheberl kick good 24 14 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 14

Statistics

Team statistical comparison[3] Statistic Wisconsin–River Falls North Central First downs 25 23 First downs rushing 10 10 First downs passing 14 12 First downs penalty 1 1 Third down efficiency 3–10 7–12 Fourth down efficiency 0–3 0–2 Total plays–net yards 69–436 71–363 Rushing attempts–net yards 28–145 43–169 Yards per rush 5.2 3.9 Yards passing 291 194 Pass completions–attempts 27–41 18–28 Interceptions thrown 0 2 Punt returns–total yards 1–2 1–11 Kickoff returns–total yards 3–36 5–67 Punts–average yardage 2–37 3–39 Fumbles–lost 0–0 1–1 Penalties–yards 3–35 4–27 Time of possession 23:45 36:15

Wisconsin–River Falls statistics[3] Falcons passing C–A Yds TD–INT Kaleb Blaha 27–41 291 1–0 Falcons rushing Car Yds TD Kaleb Blaha 19 128 2 Trevor Asher 5 24 0 Jaylen Reed 2 1 0 TEAM 2 -8 0 Falcons receiving Rec Yds TD Jake Hilton 4 85 0 Austin Rush 6 64 0 Blake Rohrer 4 50 1 Adam Johnstone 6 40 0 Trevor Asher 3 23 0 Jaylen Reed 2 13 0 Ben Wesolowski 1 12 0 Stephen Reifenberger 1 4 0

North Central statistics[3] Cardinals passing C–A Yds TD–INT Garret Wilson 18–28 194 0–2 Cardinals rushing Car Yds TD Donovan McNeal 23 133 2 Jordan Williams 10 44 0 Sean Allen 1 5 0 Thomas Skokna 1 0 0 Garret Wilson 8 -13 0 Cardinals receiving Rec Yds TD Thomas Skokna 5 77 0 Jack Rummell 5 75 0 Grant McAtee 3 27 0 Demir Ashiru 2 8 0 Myles Walton 2 6 0 Donovan McNeal 1 1 0

References

1. Sager, Joe (January 4, 2026). "River Falls wins with defense". D3football.com. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
2. "2025 Division III Football Official Bracket". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
3. "2025 DIII Football Championship - Championship". NCAA. Retrieved January 5, 2026.