Middle Georgia State wins national title

DD Wright scored with less than a minute left and Middle Georgia State beat Miami (Ohio) 33-26 Saturday in the National Club Football Association national championship in Salem, Virginia.

The Knights finish the season at 10-0 and will be ranked No. 1 in the final NCFA poll.

Eric Forrest threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers to earn the game MVP award.

Miami led 23-20 at halftime and got an early fourth-quarter field goal. Middle Georgia State tied it with a touchdown pass from Forrest to Kevin Williams III, but the point-after was blocked.

The Knights' defense forced a punt and the offense took over inside its own 20 with about three minutes left.

Middle Georgia drove the length of the field with Wright scoring from 3 yards out and Dimitris Yokaris adding the PAT with 53 seconds left in the game.

After a 17-yard Miami gain, Middle Georgia State's CJ Dunnum batted away a pass, and then Mark Hawkins Jr. clinched it for Middle Georgia State with an interception.

Middle Georgia gave up an early field goal, but countered with a 46-yard touchdown drive for a 6-3 lead.

The Knights again answered a Redhawks score with one, by Wright, for a 13-10 lead.

Miami regained the lead, and so did Middle Georgia State on Forrest's touchdown pass to Justin Sims. The Red Hawks, however, took a 23-20 halftime lead with a touchdown with 11 seconds left.

Defenses took over in the third quarter, and neither team scored. That set up another back-and-forth quarter in the fourth.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia State wins national title ."