GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Top-ranked North Dakota State captured its 12th Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with a 15-10 win over 13th-ranked North Dakota on Saturday, Nov. 8, before a crowd of 12,749 at the Alerus Center.

Quarterback Cole Payton scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run with 2:22 left to give North Dakota State (10-0, 7-0 MVFC) its first lead of the day, and cornerback Anthony Chideme-Alfaro made a diving interception at the 1-yard line with 11 seconds left to seal the victory.

Linebacker Donovan Woolen made a game- and career-high 17 tackles for the Bison defense, which played a season-high 81 snaps and forced three second-half turnovers while limiting UND to 3.5 yards per play. The Fighting Hawks (6-4, 4-2 MVFC) outgained the Bison by a 286-268 margin, season lows in total offense for both teams.

Woolen had the most tackles by a Bison player since linebacker Jackson Hankey's 17 in the 2019 national championship win over James Madison, and it was the most offensive plays by a Bison opponent since Incarnate Word ran 94 plays in a 2022 semifinal loss at NDSU.

Eli Ozick converted field goals of 24 and 38 yards in the first half to keep NDSU within 7-6 at halftime, and the Bison defense stiffened on UND's 14-play drive to open the second half with Logan Kopp's sack forcing UND into a third-and-15 before the Fighting Hawks settled for a 32-yard field goal to go ahead 10-6.

NDSU punted on its next possession, but the Bison got the ball right back when Toby Anene deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage and Keenan Wilson made a shoestring catch to give NDSU the ball at the UND 21. Eli Ozick converted a 33-yard field goal four plays later to make it a 10-9 game.

The Bison got their second interception of the game on the next UND drive. Safety Ryan Jones hit quarterback Jerry Kaminski as he threw and Darius Givance picked off the errant throw at the NDSU 7, but the Bison went three-and-out.

Kopp made a fourth-and-1 stop to end UND's next series at midfield, and the Bison scored in four plays highlighted by a 30-yard pass down the left sideline to tight end Reis Kessel to reach the UND 8 before Payton's go-ahead TD run. The Bison went for two on the PAT but Payton's run fell short of the goal line and it remained 15-10.

Payton finished 8 of 15 passing for 125 yards and rushed 16 times for 68 yards, NDSU's Barika Kpeenu ran 18 times for a game-high 73 yards, and Bryce Lance made three receptions for 61 yards including a key 26-yard catch on third down to extend NDSU's first scoring drive, and another impressive 28-yard reception on the sideline to spark the second Bison scoring drive.

Kaminski went 21 of 38 passing for 170 yards and UND's Sawyer Seidl ran 23 times for 68 yards including a 2-yard rushing touchdown late in the first quarter that gave UND a 7-0 lead.

North Dakota State is scheduled to host Northern Iowa in the annual Harvest Bowl game next Saturday, Nov. 15. The Bison will wrap up the regular season with a non-conference game against St. Thomas on Saturday, Nov. 22. Tickets for both games are available on GoBison.com/tickets.