Ferris State ended the 2025 DII football season at the top once again, further cementing its legacy in the sport’s history books. The Bulldogs dominated their way to their fourth national championship in five years, a huge story in itself…but there were plenty of others that shouldn’t be forgotten.
FINAL RANKINGS: Wayne Cavadi’s DII football Power 10 and players of the year
Were there more than 25 moments that left their mark on a season full of record-setting performances, weekly upsets and standout freshmen? Of course there were, but we chose to narrow it down to a few that shined bright. As the new year approaches, let’s take a look back at the season that it was.
25 reasons we loved the 2025 DII football season
NCAA Photos
1. A dynasty second to none? Perhaps not quite yet, but the Bulldogs are now in the conversation for greatest dynasty in the history of DII football. The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats remain at the top — they made 10 national championship game appearances from 1998-2016, winning a DII record six, with a flurry of additional quarterfinals appearances sprinkled in the mix. However, one more win separates Ferris State from GLIAC-rival Grand Valley State and its McKinney, Texas-rival Valdosta State for second-most championships all-time. We had no idea what to expect in 2025 with Ferris State losing eight key pieces from the 2024 championship squad in the transfer portal, but now we know that no matter who returns, championship No. 5 may be only a year away. The Bulldogs will enter next season on a 30-game winning streak, 11 shy of breaking GVSU’s record.
2. Harding breaks its own rushing record. When Harding won its first national title in 2023, the Bisons ran for an astounding 6,160 yards, setting the all-level college football record for most yards on the ground in a single season. This year, they crushed that record and fell just short of 7,000 yards, finishing with 6,943 yards rushing, a seemingly unbreakable record…except by the Bisons’ next arsenal of backs. Andrew Miller ran for 2,048 of those yards while Braden Jay added 1,514 more. The duo combined for 50 of the Bisons’ program record 88 rushing touchdowns. Want to know how to stop the flexbone offense? So does the rest of DII.
3. Cole Keylon just keeps winning. Cole Keylon is the field general for Harding, orchestrating the flexbone offense. After leading Harding to a semifinals victory on the road at Kutztown, Keylon improved to 51-4 in his career, tying Grand Valley State’s Cullen Finnerty for the most wins by a quarterback in DII history. Keylon rarely got All-American notoriety because he didn’t have the passing yards normally associated with a quarterback, but the Bisons don’t average 12.8 wins a season with Keylon if he doesn’t execute the flexbone with perfection. He was the ideal fit for a monster offensive attack.
MSU Moorhead Athletics.
Jack Strand and Gage Florence.
4. MSU Moorhead’s Jack attack. The Dragons battled in 2025, just missing out on a DII football championship appearance finishing at 8-3. Jack Strand had statistically one of the best seasons across every level, throwing for 3,546 yards and leading DII with 42 touchdown passes to go with five rushing touchdowns. He’s accepted an invite to the American Bowl, keeping his professional aspirations alive. However, it was his favorite target, Gage Florence, that needs a shoutout. Florence reeled in 105 receptions in 2025 — his third season in four years with at least 100 receptions — giving him 402 in his career. That made him the first 400-reception receiver in DII history, crushing Justin Bernard’s career record of 386 set at St. Anselm between 2010-14.
INTERVIEW AND FILM: Meet Jack Strand, Harlon Hill finalist
5. Curtis Allen runs wild. Curtis Allen had a tough act to follow for Virginia Union. Jada Byers graduated as one of the best all-time DII running backs, posting a pair of seasons with more than 1,900 yards rushing a plethora of touchdowns, landing him on the Harlon Hill watchlist numerous times. Allen crushed all his single-season records in 2025, finishing second in all college football with 2,409 yards rushing while leading all college football with 30 rushing touchdowns. In turn, he became the first Harlon Hill Trophy winner in both CIAA and DII HBCU history, leading the Panthers to the tournament for a fourth-straight season.
6. HBCU history. While we’re speaking of historic HBCU firsts, how about the fact that the CIAA and SIAC sent a combined five teams to the DII football championship this year. Both teams that met in the CIAA championship game — Virginia Union and Johnson C. Smith — advanced, as did the competitors in the SIAC championship, Albany State (GA) and Benedict. The SIAC also sent Kentucky State to the tournament, as the Thorobreds made their DII football championship debut. Only Albany State and Benedict escaped the first round, but we saw in the first year of the expanded field and realigned super regions that there is a doorway for history to be made in the championship like never before.
7. Freshmen running backs dominate DII. New Mexico Highlands’ Jeffery Jones rushed for 1,723 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2025. Northern Michigan’s Noah Dobert ran for 1,656 yards and 15 touchdowns of his own. Both were freshmen and they finished third and fourth respectively in DII in rushing. The only running backs with a stronger resume than the freshmen duo were Harlon Hill winner Curtis Allen and Harlon Hill runner-up Andrew Miller, both of whom eclipsed 2,000 yards. Jones led the Cowboys to a 6-5 record, their first winning record since 2012, while Northern Michigan went 3-8. While that record may not sound impressive, it is important to remember that the Wildcats went 0-22 in the two seasons prior to Dobert’s arrival. They closed the season on a 3-2 run, and Dobert ran for 892 yards and 11 touchdowns in the three victories.
8. Ackerley’s seven-touchdown day. Ten quarterbacks thew for six touchdowns in a game this season, but only two reached seven. One was the aforementioned Strand, but the first to reach the seven-touchdown mark this season was Connor Ackerley. Ackerley threw for 529 yards and seven scores to just one interception in a wild 69-55 loss to New Mexico Highlands, where rookie running back Jeffery Jones went for 385 yards and four touchdowns. As a redshirt-freshman, Ackerley tied the freshman record set by Andrew Murphy of St. Anselm in 2012 and tied by both Evan Ernst, Ohio Dominican, and Tyson Bagent in 2018.
Valdosta State Athletics
9. The Blazers catch on fire. Valdosta State was the reigning national runners-up, but the team was hardly recognizable on opening day. Just one starter returned and an entirely new coaching staff had to work hard to gel quickly. The Blazers sat at 2-4 entering the final weekend of October. In front of them was North Greenville, which had the edge in Conference Carolinas for the automatic bid to the tournament, and then three nationally ranked teams in West Alabama, Delta State and GSC rival West Florida. The only way to return to the tournament was to win all four. The Blazers did just that, first taking down North Greenville and West Alabama by two scores, defeating Delta State in the final seconds and then winning the GSC in an overtime thriller against West Florida. The Blazers went into Albany State and nearly upset the No. 1 seed until a late rally put the Golden Rams ahead and ended the Blazers quest for a repeat run to Texas in the first round.
10. North Greenville wins the first Conference Carolinas title. The newly formed Conference Carolinas was really a two-horse race entering 2025. It was going to be either North Greenville or UNC Pembroke. The Trailblazers were projected to claim the first automatic bid in conference history this preseason, mainly because last year, they battled very well against some GSC heavyweights. This year, it didn’t turn out as well, starting the season 1-3 after losing to all three nationally ranked GSC teams and then again to Valdosta State a few weeks later. What the Trailblazers did do, however, was run the table in Conference Carolinas, and that included taking down UNC Pembroke twice in dominating fashion; once 20-7 in October and then 34-20 in the first-ever Conference Carolinas Bowl.
11. Newberry goes from worst(ish) to first. The Wolves were coming off two rough seasons, finishing 3-7 in 2024 and near the bottom of the SAC standings, while not faring much better in 2023 with a 4-7 record. Enter Harlon Hill finalist Reed Charpia at quarterback and the Wolves blasted not only to the top of the SAC standings, but all the way to their first national semifinals appearance in program history. The Wolves were the biggest turnaround story of the season, improving from three wins to 12, and made program history on a weekly basis stunning both West Florida and Albany State in dramatic fashion in the tournament.
West Texas A&M Athletics
12. A good ol’-fashioned gunslinger in the Wild West. RJ Martinez transferred into West Texas A&M from a Division I tour of Texas. In his first and only year under center, he finished as one of four 4,000-yard passers in all college football for the 2025 season. Martinez caught fire in the final six weeks of the season when he threw for more than 400 yards in five of his last six games, doing so at more than a 70 percent completion rate. He had four five-touchdown games over that same span, so it should be no surprise that the Buffs finished the season on a 5-1 run, culminating with a one-point victory over Arkansas Tech in the Heritage Bowl.
13. Henderson State dominates the 98th Battle of the Ravine. It is a rivalry like no other. Literally, there is no other rivalry like it, and we have covered it in depth and quite often (read all about it here). This year was quite different, as the Reddies walked into Ouachita Baptist’s Cliff Harris Stadium and won 41-14. Now, these two teams are typically in the playoff hunt, but almost always have winning records. Both were 7-3 this year, so the usual slugfest was expected. The past five Battles have been won by an average of a mere four points, so Henderson State’s 27-point victory was a monstrous one. It was the widest margin of victory in the rivalry since Henderson State’s 42-7 victory in 2012, as this one often comes right down to the wire.
14. Xavier Esquillen gets sack happy. Savannah State finished 4-6 on the season and didn’t have much to cheer about. However, the Tigers did win their homecoming game against Morehouse, and it was thanks to a defensive barrage led by Esquillen. The junior defensive end recorded five sacks, the most in a single game in DII this season and besting any player in the FBS or FCS, for a total of 37 yards lost while also forcing a fumble. It was his second game of more than three sacks for 2025.
15. Landon goes Boss mode for Emporia State. Emporia State linebacker Landon Boss went wild in one of the most complete games by a defensive player this season. Playing Missouri Southern in early October, Boss recorded 11 tackles, four of which were sacks for a total of 34 yards lost. He also forced a fumble, intercepted a pass, broke up another pass and got to the quarterback a fifth time as he let it go, barely missing out on his fifth sack. Boss finished his All-American campaign as one of DII’s best all-around defenders with 100 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks and two interceptions.
16. Benedict’s wild ending in the DII football championship. The Tigers had a rough run in recent tournament history. Twice they were upset as the No. 1 seed in Super Region Two (in 2022 and 2023) and really wanted to show they could get that elusive victory. Trailing 24-0 to Wingate in the third quarter of the first round sure didn’t do them any favors. However, 25-unanswered points later, the Tigers were dancing to the second round, winning the game on one of the wildest finishes you’ll ever see. Words can’t explain it, so just watch for yourself.
17. Duo ties DII football kickoff return record. A pair of special teamers tied DII football history this season with a pair of kickoff return touchdowns in the same game. Post’s freshman wide receiver Israel Hiraldo accomplished the feat first, returning an 80-yard kickoff and 84-yard kickoff to the house on Sept. 13. A couple of weeks later, Central Washington dropped a season-high 91 points, which Beau Phillips contributed to with a 94-yard and 100-yard return, which also tied the DII record for longest return. Perhaps most impressively, both of the players did their damage in one quarter, with Hiraldo returning both in the third quarter and Phillips doing his work in the second, which is also believed to tie the DII record.
18. Cedonyae Lott goes bonkers. If you’ve been paying attention, it was a pretty good year for freshmen at the DII level. Lott, a wide receiver and kick return specialist for Midwestern State, was yet another example. He followed up his first career punt return for a touchdown on Oct. 4 with his second one the very next week. But that isn’t why he makes this list. He makes this list for his performance against the porous Western New Mexico defense in the final game of the season. There, the young receiver went off for 11 receptions, 284 yards and four touchdowns. The 284 yards were the most in a game in DII this season and fourth-best across all levels. Talk about saving the best for last.
Northwest Missouri State Athletics
19. Return of the king. The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats were coming off a 6-5 season and two-straight tournament-less campaigns. There are probably 110 DII football programs that wish a 13-9 record over two season was a failure, but in Maryville, with the six-time national champions, anything less than a playoff run is not taken well by the fanbase. Not much was expected of the mighty Bearcats in 2025 with a new head coach and bevy of new faces in the starting lineup — they were sixth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll and fifth in the media poll. Instead, the Bearcats went and won its 32nd MIAA regular-season title and finished 9-3, making the DII football championship where they lost to Harding in the first round. The Bearcats had their bumps and learning curve in 2025, but they are way ahead of schedule, which is bad news for the MIAA.
20. Chadron State soars into tournament. The RMAC is loaded with top-heavy, tournament-tested DII football championship talent in programs like Colorado School of Mines, CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado. Chadron State, projected to finish seventh in the RMAC in the preseason, has not been one of those programs. Following two losing seasons, the Eagles found themselves in the position to win the RMAC, defeating Colorado School of Mines and Western Colorado before falling to CSU Pueblo in double overtime. The Eagles made the tournament for the first time since 2012 in another of DII football’s feel-good turnarounds for 2025.
21. Johnson C. Smith is golden in CIAA. The Golden Bulls have been a team on the rise of late. After enduring more than a decade of losing records, JCSU finished 7-4 in 2023 and then 8-2 in 2024. The Golden Bulls bested both in 2025, finishing 10-2 and winning their first CIAA championship in 55 years… before the DII football championship was even invented. To do so, the Golden Bulls took down two-time CIAA champions Virginia Union in dominating fashion, winning the CIAA championship game 45-21. Their No. 18 ranking in the final AFCA poll was the highest finish in program history, and they made their first trip to the DII football championship.
22. More records for Ferris State. The Bulldogs set a few other records this season worth noting. With the revamped bracket, and no first round bye for the No. 1 seed, it required 16 games to win a DII football championship for a majority of the programs that started play in Week 0. Ferris State did just that, and ran the table, making them the first 16-0 team in DII history. The Bulldogs also scored 844 points this season, breaking Pittsburg State’s record of 837 in 2004, which was set in 15 games. And while it wasn’t a record, watching Carson Gulker’s transformation into DII football’s Swiss-army knife was full of intrigue. Back in the 2022 season, he was part of the Ferris State quarterback duo with Mylik Mitchell and set the freshman rushing touchdown record with 31. Flash forward three years and a career-changing injury later, Gulker was a man of many positions, throwing for a touchdown this season, leading all Ferris State players in receiving yards (548), scoring seven touchdowns as a tight end of sorts, and still being used as a rusher, gaining 541 yards on the ground with five more scores.
Northeastern State Athletics
23. The rogue RiverHawks barely miss out on the tournament. An independent team causing a ruckus on selection Sunday? Northeastern State, DII football’s lone remaining team independent of a conference, did just that. Improving from a 2-9 team in 2024, the RiverHawks finished the regular season at 8-3, and despite not hearing their name called for the DII playoffs, they still showed up for their bowl game. At the First Americans Bowl, the RiverHawks dominated East Central 56-21, setting the program record for total yards with 651 and recording their first DII postseason win this century. The RiverHawks were one of the most-improved DII teams this season, averaging more than 40 points per game with a 1,000-yard rusher (Ramon McKinney Jr.), a 3,000-yard passer (Donnie Smith), and La’Vonte Shenault, whose 1,044 yards receiving were sixth overall in DII.
24. Minnesota State does it again. The Mavericks were battling in a very tight and competitive NSIC in 2025. As they did in 2024, Minnesota State went into its final game of the regular season where a win would all but lock up a playoff berth. For the second-straight year, Minnesota State lost that final game but still had the overall resume to make it as an at-large bid. One year after pulling off two huge upsets to reach the national semifinals as an unseeded team, the Mavericks almost pulled off the feat again, upsetting No. 2 Findlay and No. 3 UIndy before succumbing to Ferris State. The Mavericks did score the most points against Ferris State in the playoffs, adding yet another accomplishment for a program that finds magic every postseason.
25. Novak back for one more? Less than a week after Kutztown suffered its season-ending loss to Harding in the semifinals, All-American quarterback Judd Novak gave the Golden Bear faithful the news they wanted to hear. He announced via X, “one more year with KU Bears football with one thing on our mind.” Novak has led a resurgence in Kutztown, establishing the Golden Bears as a national power. Novak has 37 wins in three years as the Golden Bears’ quarterback which means, should they make their third semifinals appearance under Novak’s lead, Novak will likely be threatening for the total wins record of 51 tied by Keylon in 2025.
