Jackson Waring leads Grand View to NAIA national title, 35-7 over defending-champ Keiser

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Jackson Waring threw four touchdown passes and ran for 203 yards in leading No. 2 Grand View to its second NAIA national championship, defeating No. 1 Keiser 35-7 on Saturday.

Waring, who began his college career at Illinois State, completed 11 of 18 passes for 132 yards. His 203 yards on the ground came on 21 carries with a long of 53 yards.

After losing a fumble nine plays into their opening drive, the Vikings dominated the rest of the first half. They outgained the Seahawks by nearly 100 yards in the first half and had 202 yards rushing, led by Waring with 148 yards.

Grand View went ahead 21-0 on two touchdown passes from Waring to Aisea Toki and a third Waring TD pass, this one to Triston William.

Defending national-champion Keiser got on the board with a 26-yard pass from Shea Spencer to Maurico Porcha just before halftime.

Waring’s fourth touchdown pass, a 20-yard connection with Corey Phillips, put the Vikings in control 28-7 late in the third quarter and Dalten Van Pelt’s 11-yard run made it 35-7 in the fourth.

Van Pelt finished with 107 yards rushing on 16 carries for Grand View (14-0), which is located in Des Moines, Iowa.

Spencer was 22-of-45 passing for 277 yards and Porcha had 102 receiving yards for Keiser (12-1), which is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The national championship is the second for Grand View, which also won in 2013. The Vikings were runners-up in 2021.

The only other matchup between the two teams was a 38-21 victory for Keiser in the 2022 semifinals. The Seahawks went on to their first of what is now three-consecutive appearances in the championship game.

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