We made it. The year of 2021 began with a bit of a different look in the spring. After we watched abbreviated tournament fields and the first DII spring football being played, the fall of 2021 returned with a sense of normalcy.
If there is such a thing as normalcy in the world of sports.
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Luckily for us, sports are anything but normal — a space where the unimaginable becomes reality. Let’s look back on the first half of this 2021-22 year in DII sports. While we would love to include every play that made national headlines and every team that excelled, here are just a few moments that stood out from the rest.
10 memorable moments from the fall of 2021
Welcome to DII football, Jared Bernhardt
Ferris State hadn’t played football in nearly two years. When the DII football semifinals’ staple opened the season, they had a new quarterback under center — former Division I Maryland lacrosse star and national player of the year Jared Bernhardt.
The “rookie” quarterback used his eligibility to chase his dreams of being a college football quarterback. In his debut against Findlay, he led the Bulldogs to a 54-14 victory. His numbers? Bernhardt threw for 218 yards, rushed for 120 more and totaled seven — SEVEN — touchdowns. A side note: That same Findlay team made the 2021 DII football championship tournament. This was no subpar team Bernhardt took advantage of and the rest, as they say, is history.
Cal State LA gets redemption on the DII men’s soccer pitch
Cal State LA wins the 2021 DII men’s soccer championship
The last time we saw official DII men’s soccer played, Charleston (WV) dominated Cal State LA 2-0 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for its second national championship in three years. Fast forward to 2021, and we had ourselves the second all Golden Eagles final in as many tries.
This time around, Cal State LA made program history, avenging its 2019 loss and taking home the program’s first…
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