Blake Rohrer caught a 79-yard touchdown pass from Kaleb Blaha with 45 seconds left and host Wisconsin-River Falls defeated Johns Hopkins 48-41 in the NCAA Division III football semifinals Saturday.
The Falcons (13-1) advanced to the D-III championship game for the first time in program history. They will play defending national champion North Central (Ill.) in the Stagg Bowl on Jan. 4 in Canton, Ohio. North Central will be making its sixth consecutive appearance in the Division III championship game (no game was played in 2020) after defeating John Carroll 41-21 on Saturday.
In a back-and-forth game that featured four ties and six lead changes and 1,093 yards in offense, it was Blaha’s fifth touchdown pass of the game that was the difference. On third-and-7 from his own 21-yard line with less than a minute left, Blaha found a leaping Rohrer at the Falcons 39. Johns Hopkins safety Jack Schondelmayer went for an interception but missed, leaving no one to stop Rohrer from running the final 61 yards to the end zone.
The final scoring drive started at the Falcons 4-yard line after they forced a punt from the Blue Jays (12-2). On the first play after the Falcons’ kickoff, Brady Block intercepted a Blue Jays pass at the Blue Jays 37 to clinch the victory. It was the first interception of his career for the defensive lineman, a junior from Prescott, Wis.
“We just had to keep scoring,” Falcons coach Matt Walker told reporters in River Falls after the game, “and when we needed a big play on defense we got it. I give a lot of credit to Johns Hopkins. What a battle. That was very impressive. I’m super impressed with their players. Their coaches. It was an absolute dog fight.”
For the game, Blaha, a senior from Fridley, completed 30 of 48 passes for a school-record 520 yards. The TD reception was the third of the game for Rohrer, a junior from Woodbury, who had nine catches for a career-high 236 yards.
The Falcons outgained the Blue Jays 632-461. Wisconsin-River Falls trailed 27-21 at halftime but used a 20-7 third quarter to take a lead before Johns Hopkins tied it at 41-41 on the second play of the fourth, completing a 13-play, 94-yard drive.
“When we needed it most,” said Blaha, “we made big plays.”
