By: Mark Reinhiller
Three-time defending NJCAA Division III champion College of DuPage will take on Louisburg College in the 2024 National Football Championship at the Red Grange Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 7, at COD’s Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium and Bob MacDougall Field, on the Glen Ellyn campus, 425 Fawell Blvd.
Kickoff is noon and the game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.
Tickets are $10 and are available for sale at the point of entry on gameday.
COD (10-1 overall), ranked No. 1 all season, has showcased one of the more dominant seasons in school history. The Chaparrals average 52.9 points a game and allow just 13.2 points per game. In COD’s 10 wins, only one team — North Dakota State College of Science — has come within 34 points of the Chaparrals.
Freshman quarterback Justin Bland (Carol Stream) has thrown for 2,934 yards on 173 of 269 passing (63.3 passing percentage). He has 36 touchdowns with just five interceptions, four games of more than 350 passing yards and has thrown multiple touchdowns in nine games.
A stable of wide receivers has benefitted from COD’s air attack with freshman Clayton Bone (Pontiac, Michigan) hauling in 743 yards on 38 receptions and 11 touchdowns. Sophomore Daion Gaston (Florissant, Missouri) has 30 receptions for 546 yards and seven TD’s and sophomore Deszmund White (Kenosha, Wisconsin) 35 receptions for 532 yards and four touchdowns.
Keeping COD’s ground attack honest maintains the Chaps’ balanced offensive attack. Four RBs have at least 300 rushing yards with sophomore Jamareon Dale (Chicago) at front of the pack with 483 yards on 82 carries and 10 touchdowns. Sophomore Ernest Temple (Lansing, 369 yards, 55 carries, nine touchdowns), freshman Michael Cervantes (Buffalo Grove, 334 yards, 51 carries, three touchdowns) and freshman Haiden Janke (Huntley, 309 yards, 49 carries, three touchdowns) complete the foursome.
COD boasts the premier kicker in junior college football in sophomore All-American Christian Casillas. The Alsip native is perfect on all 57 PAT attempts, is 11 of 15 field goals and owns a 62-yard field goal, tying the NJCAA record.
He is the leading scorer in D3 with 89 points.
On defense, freshman linebacker Michael Tringali (Bartlett) is the leading tackler of the year with 57 tackles (35 solo, 22 assisted) with 5 tackles for loss. Freshman defensive back Mason Montgomery (Bartlett) owns 30 solos and 42 total tackles and freshman linebacker Ja’Mycheal Towns (Hazel Crest) has 30 solos, 17 assisted and leads the team in interceptions with three.
Leading in sacks are lineman sophomore Darion Johnson (Merrillville, Indiana) and freshman Jakub Mwangelwa (Chicago), with seven each.
Louisburg (8-2 overall) and the Chaparrals have played against two common opponents. The Hurricanes defeated Hocking (Ohio) 44-22 and Sussex County (New Jersey) 27-16.
The Chaparrals defeated Hocking twice (49-12 and 70-6) and Sussex (58-21).
The National Championship game recognizes the feats of the late Red Grange, one of football's all-time greats and the game's greatest all-time offensive player. The Wheaton native, nicknamed the "Galloping Ghost" and the "Wheaton Iceman", is a charter member of both the Pro (1963) and College (1951) Football Halls of Fame. His single-greatest feat remains almost fantasy — scoring four touchdowns in the opening 12 minutes versus the University of Michigan Wolverines in the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium dedication game on Oct. 18, 1924. All told, he scored six touchdowns and totaled 409 all-purpose yards.
Grange went on to earn three All-American honors at Illinois and became the first major signing by Chicago Bears owner and head coach George Halas. Later that year, Halas took Grange and the Bears on a coast-to-coast tour in which the club played 16 games in nine weeks. That effort is thought to have saved the National Football League and fortified Grange as a household name in America, ranking among the likes of such legends as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey.
This marks the fourth straight year the NJCAA DIII Football Championship at the Red Grange Bowl will be played at College of DuPage. The NJCAA and COD are contracted to play the championship game at the College through the 2027 season.
College of DuPage is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association and National Junior College Athletic Association Region IV. The College’s Athletics program offers 10 men’s and 10 women’s sports teams each year, including outdoor track and field, indoor track and field, cross country, football, volleyball, golf, basketball, lacrosse, tennis, baseball, softball and soccer. All home games are played on the College of DuPage Glen Ellyn campus.