DURHAM, N.C. – The primary goal for the No. 1 overall seed Keiser Seahawks was to finish this season as back-to-back NAIA national champs.
It did not go as planned on Saturday (Dec. 21).
Keiser ran into the 2024 NAIA National Player of the Year at this year’s NAIA national title game. This can explain how the 2023 national champion fell short in a 35-7 loss to No. 2 overall seed Grand View (Iowa) at Durham County Memorial Stadium.
Who is the NAIA National Player of the Year?
He is Grand View Vikings senior quarterback Jackson Waring, who earned the NAIA’s most prestigious individual honor on Friday (Dec. 20). He is a true dual-threat signal caller who completed 11 of 18 passes (61.11 completion percentage) for 132 yards and four touchdown passes, while adding 21 carries for 203 yards to account for a whopping 335 total yards and four total scores.
Waring lost a fumble to Keiser near the goal line with 11:32 left in the quarter. It appeared that the 6-foot-3, 225-pound senior was headed for a 10-yard touchdown run. But senior linebacker Hunter Hargrave recovered the lost fumble for Keiser, which was given an opportunity to open the scoring.
The window to make a Keiser statement was shut by the Grand View as the offense could not get much going in the first quarter.
Once Grand View got the ball back, it made sure to score on its next opportunity. An eight-play, 63-yard drive ended with Waring’s 14-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Aisea Toki with 4:40 left in the first quarter. The extra point gave Grand View a 7-0 lead over Keiser.
For most of the first half, it was about Grand View’s offense. Waring fired off two perfectly thrown touchdown passes in the second half to extend Grand View’s lead to 21-0 over Keiser.
Watch the two second-quarter scoring passes from Waring right below.
Keiser would not go into halftime scoreless, however.
It took just 50 seconds for Keiser graduate senior quarterback Shea Spencer to engineer a seven-play, 79-yard drive to the end zone. With 10 seconds left in the first half, Spencer would connect with sophomore wide receiver Maurico Porcha for a 26-yard touchdown pass. This would cut Grand View’s lead to 21-7.
It seemed as if Keiser would find a way to get back into the game during the third quarter. But even though not much action took place in this pivotal frame, Grand View still found a way to score. This happened at the 4:57 mark, when Waring had plenty of time to throw a wide-open 20-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Corey Phillips for a 28-7 lead.
The only time that Keiser seemed poised to score again was in the beginning of the fourth quarter. A 10-play, 47-yard drive ended with an interception thrown in the end zone to Grand View safety Kellen Moore, who ran the ball to his team’s 20-yard line with 9:53 left.
The game-icing possession for Grand View (14-0 final record) was a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock and ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by junior running back Dalten Van Pelt (16 carries, 110 yards, 1 touchdown) with 3:50 left.
Van Pelt’s scoring run – plus an extra point by freshman kicker Justyn Hamm (5-for-5 in extra point attempts) – accounted for the game’s final score.
Keiser (12-1 final record) finished this one with 407 total yards and 20 first downs on offense. But on the defensive side of the ball, it allowed 485 total yards and 25 first downs to Grand View.
Keiser head coach Myles Russ recapped this season, which ended with its best record in school history.
Regardless of today’s outcome, Keiser can be proud of the fact it reached its third straight NAIA national title game. This is an amazing feat in of itself, considering the fact that this program has only been in existence since 2017 – which is seven years ago.
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