Late burst sends Wisconsin-Whitewater past Mount Union for Division III title

Wisconsin-Whitewater tops Mount Union for title

SALEM, Va. — Levell Coppage had 111 yards rushing and three touchdowns and Wisconsin-Whitewater scored 10 points in the final 1 minute, 17 seconds to beat defending champion Mount Union 38-28 in the NCAA Division III championship game on Saturday.

The Purple Raiders (14-1) had their winning streak snapped at 29 games.

Jeff Donovan was 26 of 40 for 323 yards and two touchdown passes for the Warhawks (15-0), who won their second national championship in the past three years. This is the fifth straight year that the two teams have met in the national championship game.

Mount Union had won three of those four previous matchups, including last year’s game, which was played under sunny skies and with temperatures in the 60s.

Saturday’s game had its starting time moved back five hours due to a winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on Salem in less than 24 hours.

With the game tied 28-28, Wisconsin-Whitewater took over on its own 42-yard line with 3:15 to play.

Coppage got the Warhawks into Mount Union territory with an 11-yard run, then four plays later put Whitewater up for good with a 31-yard run down the left sideline that ended with a dive into the end zone. Whitewater added a 44-yard field goal by Jeff Schebler with 26 seconds to play.

Mount Union had tied the game at 28-28 on a 5-yard run by quarterback Kurt Rocco. Rocco was 23 of 39 for 383 yards and three touchdowns. Mount Union All-American wide receiver Cecil Shorts III had 10 catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He injured his leg late in the game and arrived at the postgame news conference on crutches.