After a historic football season, the Kutztown Golden Bears fall just short of the NCAA Division II championship game.
Kutztown lost to Harding 49-20 Saturday afternoon at Andre Reed Stadium in the NCAA Division II semifinals.
“For our guys, we had opportunities today. We made good on some, and we didn’t make good on some, but our kids fought all game,” Golden Bears coach Jim Clements said.
“We didn’t play ‘KU’ football. The explosive plays that we gave up in the run game, multiple plays that we gave up over 70 yards; they were really back breakers. We have to do a better job. We will grow from this. Probably the toughest thing about this is the six seniors that we lose.”
It was a season of success for the Golden Bears, as they recorded the winningest season in school history with 14 wins, captured their third consecutive PSAC championship, and advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Division II playoffs for the second time in three years.
The sting of defeat was a new feeling for this year’s Golden Bears, but it came on a day when the Bison (15-0) simply outplayed them.
“I’m super proud of our team as a whole,” Clements said, getting choked up with emotion. “Best year ever in Kutztown history … We’ve got a ton of really good kids coming back that are special, and it’s exciting. This stings, but the future is bright here at Kutztown.”
It was an unusual sight for the Golden Bears defensively as they faced a flex bone offense, one that was historically dominant this season.
The Bison broke the single-season team rushing record with 6,697 yards and counting, eclipsing the all-division college football mark of 6,160 yards set by themselves in 2023.
Leading the way was Harlon Hill Trophy finalist Andrew Miller, who rushed for 157 yards and four touchdowns to lead his team to victory.
The Bison moved the ball at will on the ground, completing just one pass for 20 yards in the entire game. Braden Jay and Cole Keylon also posted dominant performances. Jay rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown, while Keylon, the quarterback, added 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The flex bone offense is rare at any level of football, but especially at the college level. It confuses defenses with its triple-option attack, where defenders never know who is getting the ball, making it particularly difficult to prepare for.
“You try to practice for a couple of days without a football and really worry about our responsibilities, our areas, and dive two-pitch,” Clements said when explaining how the Kutztown defense prepared. “We got the football involved in it. It’s really hard to replicate the speed and the cutting on the backside because we don’t want to cut our guys in practice.”
“It’s not easy to do, trying to do a couple of switches here and there. A couple of the big, explosive plays were off that fullback trap. It just takes one guy not to do his job or get out of his alignment, and they really make you pay when you get to the second level with the speed.”
For Kutztown, the offense struggled after scoring 50 or more points in each of its first three playoff games, as possessions were limited to just three in the first half.
The Golden Bears totaled just 123 yards on those drives and trailed 21-7 at halftime, while allowing three touchdowns on the Bison’s first three offensive drives and 212 rushing yards.
Aside from the series that ended both halves, the Bison were perfect, punching the ball into the end zone on all seven possessions and punting only once at the end of the game.
Judd Novak, also a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, threw his first interception of the season in the third quarter, putting the Golden Bears in a 28-7 deficit with eight minutes remaining.
The redshirt junior completed 15 of 29 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came with seven minutes left when the game was essentially decided. On the ground, Novak rushed for 137 yards on 13 carries, including a 74-yard touchdown run.
Although it was not the outcome Novak and his team wanted, the Manheim Central graduate had a fantastic season, throwing for 3,070 yards and 31 touchdowns while adding 547 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.
“Honestly, I think it comes from the hard work that I did this summer,” Novak said. “Coach Q (Marcel Quarterman, the quarterbacks coach), I love that man, because he has helped me so much in the off-season.”
Novak credited his success to his offseason work ethic, becoming more comfortable throwing from the pocket and trusting what he sees, while also praising his teammates and coaches for the season he had.
The Golden Bears captain also emphasized during the postgame press conference that the road to the 2026 national championship starts tomorrow. That mindset is ingrained in the program as a whole, beginning with Clements’ leadership. There is no doubt the 2026 Golden Bears will be fighting to return to this point.
“We’re ready to go to work, because that’s what we do,” Clements said, adding on to Novak’s comments. “We all love football, we love the grind, we love the work ethic, and we love holding each other accountable. We love those opportunities. This whole group, the whole year, that’s how they present themselves.”
While one team is already looking toward next year’s goals, Harding still has one more to achieve, with their sights set on a national championship.
The Bison’s season continues as they travel to McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas, to face Ferris State in the NCAA Division II championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Ferris State (15-0) has won three titles in the past four seasons, including the 2024 championship, when the Bulldogs defeated Valdosta State 49-14.
They have dominated those title games, winning by an average score of 49-15 and establishing themselves as a true powerhouse in recent years. Earlier in the day, Ferris State defeated Newberry at home in the semifinals, 49–17.
The Bison received the opening kickoff and wasted no time.
Quarterback Cole Keylon broke off a 42-yard run to the Golden Bears’ half-yard line, and two plays later, leading rusher Andrew Miller punched it in for the score.
After an empty possession by Kutztown, the Bison continued to roll, with Miller scoring his second touchdown of the game.
In the second quarter, the Golden Bears began to find a rhythm, mostly on the ground, after a 57-yard kickoff return by Lenniek Preston.
Jayden Stewart broke off runs of 9 and 6 yards to reach the red zone. On fourth-and-goal from the Harding 5, Novak dropped back in a clean pocket and targeted Preston on a deep crossing route, but Curtis Jackson knocked the ball away, preventing the touchdown.
Clements mentioned they would have to roll the dice on fourth downs and take advantage of the opportunities when they could, but this time they came up empty, with a huge stop for the Bison.
The Bison capitalized with a long, eight-minute drive. Keylon finished the drive himself with a 10-yard touchdown run, giving Harding a 21–0 lead with under two minutes left in the half.
Kutztown then put together a quick two-minute drive to put points on the board and gain momentum. Facing a softer, prevent-style defense, Novak moved the offense quickly, hitting receivers all over the field.
With 22 seconds left, he connected with Rich Paczewski on a 26-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone, cutting the halftime deficit to 21–7 and setting up the Golden Bears to receive the ball to start the second half.
On the opening drive of the second half, with a chance to get back into striking distance, Novak threw his first interception of the season. He stared down his target on a deep dig route, which Josh Gattin read perfectly, returning it deep into Golden Bears territory.
“I told the guys at halftime, ‘We’re going to win this football game. We can do it the easy way or the hard way,” Bison coach Paul Simmons said. “The hard way is to come out here and let them get a score, get momentum, and get back in the ball game. The easy way is to come out here and stone them and get a stop right here, because if we get the ball back, we’re going to score. We go up three scores, and it starts getting late, really, really early.”
“Josh Gattin is a playmaker. It felt like that play was 14 points. If they go down and get points, 21-14, it’s a whole different ball game. But then Josh came out of nowhere, and then I told him, ‘Dude, you messed up. You’ll play a slot next year,’ with the way he ran that ball, and he was skating. That was impressive and a massive play.”
The play was crucial for the Golden Bears’ comeback hopes, but Novak quickly redeemed himself on the next possession, rushing 74 yards and faking out defenders on his way toward the end zone.
