The College of DuPage Chaparrals made history Saturday afternoon, winning their fourth straight national championship with a 31-14 victory over Louisburg (N.C.) College in the NJCAA Division III Football Championship at the Red Grange Bowl at Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium and Bob MacDougall Field.
 
The Chaps join North Dakota State (NCAA FCS), which won five straight from 2011-15, Augustana, Ill. (NCAA Division III) 1983-1986, and Carroll (Mont.) College (2002-05) as the only football programs to win four straight national crowns.

Freshman quarterback Justin Bland threw for one TD, and ran for two others. He was 11 of 23 passing for 180 yards, and ran for four yards on seven carries.
 
COD, which entered the day averaging 52.9 points, earned a hard-fought victory over the Hurricanes (8-3). COD took control in the first half, taking the lead on the game's first possession.
 
"We did not play at our best today, and in fact, it was our worst-played game of the year,'' head coach Matthew Rahn said. "We showed, however, a tremendous amount of resilience and character by willing ourselves to get the job done. Our kids buy-in to our coaching staff. We hung in there today. And, all season long, when one side of the ball is struggling, we are so fortunate that the other side can pick up. It happened again today.''
 
Rahn earned his third NJCAA Coach of the Year honor after leading COD to an 11-1 record and owning the top ranking from beginning to end.
 
"We have players who have a championship mind-set that trust the process,'' he said. "We have an administration that embraces and supports us from top to bottom. And it would be a disservice to our coaches to get in the way of what they tirelessly work on. We are fortunate to have so many positives here at COD.''
 
COD got going early. Bland led the Chaps on their opening drive on an eight-play, 62-yard drive capped when he found freshman wide receiver Clayton Bone open over the middle, who then raced to the end zone from the Louisburg 36 with 10:52 left in the quarter.
 
COD extended the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter on a 24-yard dash from running back Ernest Temple with 13:39 left in the half.
 
The Chaps forced Louisburg to punt on its next possession, and the Chaps made them pay. COD opened at its 48, and extended the lead to 21-0 on a Bland three-yard TD.
 
Louisburg got on the scoreboard when it forced a fumble from Bland at the COD 33. Four plays later, Jameson Prince scored from the 2.
 
All-American Christian Casillas gave COD the 24-7 halftime lead when he nailed a 45-yard field goal just before the end of the half.
 
Louisburg scored on its opening possession in the second half on an eight-yard Prince run.
 
But COD answered back in the fourth quarter. The back-breaker arrived when Bland delivered on a 50-yard screen pass to Temple, who darted down the Louisburg sideline to the Louisburg 7.
 
Bland responded on the next play for the score and COD held the 31-17 lead.
 
Defensive end Darion Johnson earned the game's most outstanding player honors. The sophomore totaled four solo tackles, three assisted tackles, 1 ½ sacks for 13 yards and two tackles for loss for 15 yards.
 
"We all agreed at halftime that we needed to look at the scoreboard as if it was 0-0,'' he said. "We wanted to solidify ourselves on defense. Give them credit, they got the TD to start the second half, but we found a way to play calm while under pressure. That's a credit to our coaches and to the guys. We willed our way to the win and that's all that matters.''
 
Running back Jamareon Dale led COD's rushers with 56 yards on 11 carries. Temple finished with 51 yards and one TD.
 
Casillas, who had four PATs, finished the year 60-of-60 on PATs and kicked 12 of 16 on field goals.
 
The NJCAA crown marks COD's 45^th national championship in school history, and its 13^th since May 2021.