Harding makes program history, wins the 2023 DII football championship

The Harding Bisons are the 2023 DII football national champions for the first time in program history. They ran away with their second-straight lopsided victory, this time defeating Colorado School of Mines, 38-7.

After three-straight thrilling DII football championship games, the last three have been put away quite early. The Orediggers and Bisons played even in the first quarter, but from there on out, it was pretty much all Harding.

Flynn Schiele with the one-hand grab!🤚#D2FB x 📽️ ESPNU/ @MinesFootball pic.twitter.com/81k8OLUna0

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) December 16, 2023

Harding went ahead 14-7 on the exact kind of drive that made the Bisons seemingly unbeatable this season. The Bisons ran a 17-play drive, which lasted more than 10 minutes and took up most of the second quarter that was capped off by a Braden Jay 10-yard touchdown run. In typical Harding flexbone fashion, six different players contributed a rush to the 74-yard scoring drive. It appeared the Orediggers were going to respond quickly after a Landon Walker 52-yard run got them in the red zone, but back-to-back tackles third and fourth-and-short by Bisons’ leading tackler Clark Griffin ended the threat.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL:

Blake Delacruz had a big first half, rushing for over 100 yards in the first 30 minutes. Jay was right behind him with an 80-yard first half, but a 73-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the second half gave Harding two 100-yard backs with more than 27 minutes of football left. In the preview, it was said the way to beat Harding was to take them out of the flexbone, and Delacruz and Jay simply didn’t allow that to happen.

A 73-yard touchdown run for Braden Jay🔥🤩#D2FB x 📽️ ESPNU/ @Harding_FB pic.twitter.com/HP3AhzbBcT

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) December 16, 2023

Harding’s early scoring drive in the fourth quarter was highlighted by a 60-yard Delacruz run. It was one of three 60-plus-yard runs by the Bisons, one be Delacruz, one…