Box Score
UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Eau Claire 27-0 Saturday afternoon in Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
The teams traded punts to start the game before turnovers became a factor as four of the next five drives were ended by fumble. Unlike last week when UW-W turnovers led to a loss at Saint Cloud State, it was Whitewater capitalizing on Blugold miscues this week for the win.
Whitewater's Ryan Ogrizovich (Burlington/Burlington) (sr, Burlington) recovered a Blugold fumble at the Eau Claire 27, and three plays later Danny Jones (Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley) (sr, Pleasanton, CA) connected with Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale) (sr, Greendale) on a 30 yard TD to make it 7-0 Whitewater with 9:11 left in the half. Late in the second quarter Lane Olson (Racine/Horlick) (fr, Racine) blocked an EC punt with Tim Depies (Mequon/Homestead) (so, Mequon) recovering the ball on the 13 yard line. The third play of that short drive was a five yard scoring pass from Jones to Matt Gifford (Waukesha West/West) (so, Waukesha/West) to make it 14-0 with 0:48 left in the half.
Whitewater took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 61 yards in 13 plays, settling for a Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption) (so, Davenport, IA) 21 yard field goal at 9:49. Later in the third Schebler added a 42 yarder to up the margin to 20-0 with 1:44 left in the period.
Another turnover led the final scoring play. Whitewater's Andy Murray (Mount Horeb/Mount Horeb) (sr, Mount Horeb) sacked the EC quarterback and Ben Farley (Brookfield/East) (senior, Brookfield/East) recovered to give UW-W the ball at the EC 30. Jones tossed his third scoring pass of the day, a 29 yarder to Nick Slupski (Greenfield/Greenfield) (junior, Greenfield) at the 14:52 mark in the fourth to end the scoring.
Whitewater's defense, ranked tenth against the rush in Division III and eighteenth overall, held the Blugolds to 71 yards rushing and 130 total. UW-W's defense was credited with five sacks and seven tackles for a loss for a total of 35 yards.
Jones completed 20 of 27 passes for 204 yards and three TD's, and no interceptions. Mrkvicka caught six passes for 65 yards.
Several Warhawks moved up in the record books during Saturday's contest. Mrkvicka moved into first place in WIAC history in career punt returns with three returns today, giving him 110 for his career. The previous record holder was Dan Bridges (1987-90) at 108. Mrkvicka is also fourth in conference history with 1,014 punt return yards. Schebler advanced to ninth place in the WIAC career field goal category, making two today to up his total to 23. UW-W's Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) (sr, Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) added 134 yards to his conference record for career rushing yards, now standing at 4,578.
UW-Whitewater, among the top ten in all three national Division III poll, moved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. UW-Eau Claire's best start since 1998 ends with the loss, with the Blugolds' record now 3-1 overall and 0-1 in conference action.
UW-Whitewater travels to UW-La Crosse next Saturday for a 4:00 game at Roger Harring Stadium. The Warhawks' next home game will be Saturday, October 6th, at 1:00 versus UW-River Falls. Call the UW-W ticket office at 262-472-2222 for ticket information. Tickets will also be available at the stadium ticket window on game day.
