The Raiders won their third consecutive National Championship in dramatic fashion – earning wins against eight top-25 opponents and pulling off six come-from-behind victories, including scoring 24 unanswered points in thesecond half of Stagg Bowl XVI to earn a 44-24 win over Rowan (N.J.).
Individually, quarterback Gary Smeck, the first sophomore quarterback to lead the Raiders to a National Title, completed 287-of-434 passes (.661) for 4,049 yards, 34 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Wide receiver Darin Kershner had 93 grabs for 1,423 yardsand nine scores while teammate Adam Marino finished with 74 receptions for 1,337 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Running back Ryan Gorius rushed for 989 yards on 199 attempts with 11 scores and had 52 catches for 483 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
Defensively, inside linebacker Jason Hall totaled 174 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, six sacks, 12 passes broken upand two interceptions, outside linebacker Matt Shenigo finished with 122 hits and 12 tackles for loss, outside linebacker Rich Goebelt had 115 hits, 12 tackles for loss and eight sacks, end Matt Domin totaled 108 hits andnine sacks, end Jeremy Yoder amassed 71 hits, 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks, and safety Kris Bugara had 64 hits and seven interceptions, resulting in 209 return yards and two touchdowns.
