Fredonia Graduate In Title Game Tonight
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When he was a two-way football star at Fredonia, Matt Lotter was never afraid of the big moments. As a senior, after his Hillbillies defeated the Southwestern Trojans 28-21 to earn a trip to Highmark Stadium, Lotter joked, "Once we get there, wherever Josh Allen usually sits, I'm going to be all over that seat. Wherever he sits, that's mine."
Two years later, Lotter is set to play in another big game with a title on the line. But this time, rather than fighting for a Section VI title, Lotter is vying for the NCAA Division III Championship.
Tonight at 7, Lotter and his SUNY Cortland Red Dragons will battle the top-ranked Division III team in the country, the North Central College Cardinals, in the 50th edition of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. The game will be played at Salem Stadium in Salem, Va., and shown nationally on ESPNU, ESPN+, and online at ESPN360. An audio broadcast is available online at D3football.com.
"I've never had student athletes that I've ever coached that have made it to a game like this, at any level," Fredonia head coach Greg Sherlock said.
North Central College, of Illinois, is the defending champion of D-III. The Cardinals (14-0) have been ranked the top team in the nation by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association all season long. With a win tonight, the Cardinals would finish off back-to-back undefeated seasons, culminating in the school's third national title since 2019. Since the beginning of 2019, North Central is 56-2.
Cortland, however, hopes to crash the party to take home the school's first D-III football national title.
After an early season loss to Susquehanna (PA) on Sept. 16 on a game-winning kick in the final seconds, the Red Dragons have won 11 straight games. Cortland (13-1) defeated Randolph-Macon (VA), 49-14, in the national semifinals. The Red Dragons were the road team in three of the four playoff victories the team has earned this season.
Lotter, a sophomore, has appeared in all 14 games this season for the Red Dragons. A former Fredonia running back and linebacker, Lotter has focused primarily on defense and special teams while in college. Lotter had 10 tackles as a freshman in 2022, but has doubled that production this season with 20 tackles in 2023, including a career-high 11 tackles against Susquehanna in the team's only defeat this year. Lotter also reeled in his first collegiate interception on Nov. 4 against SUNY rival Brockport.
"He would go to work on different skills, out to Buffalo to work on receiving drills, even though he's a linebacker in college. Any little thing he could gain was important to him," Sherlock said.
The Red Dragons offense is led by another Section VI standout, Zac Boyes, a quarterback from Kenmore West High School. Boyes has thrown for 3,671 yards and 39 touchdowns this season, with just five interceptions. He has also added eight rushing touchdowns with 651 rushing yards on the season. Cortland ranks sixth in Division III in total offense, with more than 500 yards per game, and eighth in scoring at 46.8 points per game.
But on the other side of the field is one of the only quarterbacks in the nation with an even more accomplished season to date. Luke Lehnen leads the North Central attack as one of the nation's most efficient passers. He has completed more than 75% of his passes this season, tallied 46 touchdowns, and threw just two interceptions. Lehnen has only seven more incompletions on the season than he does touchdown passes, and he has added 11 scores on the ground.
Lotter's sure tackling could come into play on special teams tonight, as North Central has returned four kickoffs for touchdowns this season, along with a punt return touchdown, as well.
Cortland is the first school from New York state to reach the Division III title game since 1991, and the first team from the east coast to play for a championship since 2001. The 511-mile bus ride to Salem Stadium is the seventh furthest trip Cortland's football program has ever taken.
Lotter is the son of Fredonia High School teacher and swim coach Joanne Lotter. As a senior, he was Fredonia's leading rusher (1,107 yards, 12 touchdowns) and leading tackler (140 tackles). Lotter earned All-State honors, was the Section VI Class C Defensive Player of the Year, and was selected as an OBSERVER/Post-Journal All-Star.
"He is one of the most mentally tough kids I've ever had. He just would not be deterred and never let us down on the field," Sherlock said. "He was an example for all of us how to never give up and be there until the end."