DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Maurice Woodard and Krishawn Hogan each scored two touchdowns and Marian of Indiana won its second NAIA football championship in four years, avenging a loss in the title game last year with a 31-14 victory over Southern Oregon.
Woodard had scoring runs of 19 and 18 yards, and Marian (12-2) turned to ball control in the second half en route to its ninth straight victory.
Hogan caught 11 passes for 147 yards and scored his 30th and 31st touchdowns of the season, one on a 2-yard run and another on a 55-yard catch in the fourth quarter when he dragged three defenders into the end zone for the final 10 yards.
Southern Oregon beat Marian 55-31 in the 2014 championship game.
Marian's first championship came in 2012 with a 30-27 win over Morningside of Iowa.
Southern Oregon (11-3) averaged 499.9 yards per game in its first 13 games, but gained only 208 against Marian -- most of it in the fourth quarter.
Wide receiver Jeremy Scottow took a lateral on a bounce and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Matt Retzlaff for the Raiders' first touchdown with 11:28 remaining. Retzlaff caught another TD pass from Tanner Trosin with 51 seconds left.
Marian drove 77 yards on 13 plays to the game's first score with 4:55 left in the first half. Woodard, who finished with 77 rushing yards, got his first seven carries of the game on that drive, including the 19-yard touchdown run, the longest play of the half.
After forcing a quick punt, Marian drove 44 yards on seven plays to take a 14-0 lead with 1:05 left in the half. Hogan took direct snaps on the last two plays, running 10 yards for a first down at the Southern Oregon 2 and then diving into the end zone for his 30th touchdown of the season to put the Knights up 14-0.
Hogan scored again on the 55-yard pass from Hayden Northern midway through the fourth quarter.
Southern Oregon gained only 44 yards on 22 rushing attempts against a defense that had been yielding just 76 yards per game on the ground. The Raiders held their last seven opponents to just 55 points and their last four victories all came against teams ranked among the top 11 in NAIA.
---
Download the free RTV6 app to get the latest news on the go and receive alerts to your phone
Sign up to have the latest news headlines delivered straight to your email inbox
