UW-Whitewater, ranked number one in Division III and the defending NCAA III champion, won its seventeenth game in a row, defeating Dakota State University 70-7 Saturday afternoon in Perkins Stadium.  The victory also extended UW-W's home win streak to sixteen games and its non-conference string to ten games.

Box Score
Photo Gallery (Photos available for purchase courtesy of Ryan Kolter, UW-W SI)

UW-W scored on six of its eight possessions in the first half, and ten of sixteen times in the game.  

UW-W got on the board at 10:53 in the first quarter on an 11 yard run by Levell Coppage (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park).  Coppage did it again at 7:58, this time going 61 yards, which for a short time was the longest run from scrimmage by a UW-W player this season.  Still in the first quarter, 5:43, Matt Blanchard (Lake Zurich, IL/Lake Zurich) connected with Adam Brandes (Burlington/Catholic Central) on a 44 yard touchdown.  And, with 0:24 left in the first quarter, Booker Stanley (Milwaukee/Whitefish Bay) punched it in from one yard out to make 28-0 at the end of the stanza.

The Warhawks added two more scores in the second quarter.  Blanchard hooked up with Aaron Rusch (Hartford/Hartford) for 24 yards at 9:14.  The TD is the 20th of Rusch's career, tying him for third place in the school record book with Anthony Talton (1989-91).  Blanchard threw his third touchdown pass, this time to David Leaf (Winona, MN/Winona Cotter) for 75 yards at 4:45.  The pass is Whitewater's longest scoring toss since Jeff Donovan (Wauwatosa/East) hit Jordan Wells (Elgin, IL/Elgin) for a 77 yard score against Puget Sound September 26, 2009.  Whitewater went in to the intermission leading 42-0.

Whitewater tacked on three more scores in the third quarter.  Stanley ran one in from nine yards out at 12:11, Antwan Anderson (Madison/Madison Memorial) scored on a one yard run at 7:02, and Booker Stanley (Milwaukee/Whitefish Bay).mov">Stanley raced 84 yards with 5:39 left in the frame to put UW-W in front 63-0. (Video Provided by Jeff Kohlmeyer of UWWTV) Stanley's run from scrimmage is the longest for UW-W since Justin Beaver went 96 against UW-Oshkosh September 23, 2006.

Michael Pirtle (Milwaukee/Bradley Tech) ran 17 yards with 13:39 left in the game to wrap up Whitewater's scoring.  The ten extra points kicked by freshman Eric Kindler (Germantown/Germantown) tied the school game record, also accomplished by Mike Chaulk versus Lakeland College in 2005.

Dakota State broke the shutout on a Paul Bagala to Stacey Berg for a 31 yard touchdown with 0:45 left in the game.

UW-W amassed 663 yards of offense, 463 of those on the ground.  Stanley rushed 12 times for 159 yards, Coppage added 108 yards on 6 rushes (all in the first half), and Anderson carried the ball 19 times for 114 yards.  It marks the first time in school history with three UW-W running backs rushing for over 100 yards in a single game.  Blanchard went 10-13 for 202 yards and no interceptions.  Leaf accounted for 96 yards on 4 catches.

The Whitewater defense limited DSU to minus two yards rushing on 23 attempts, with six sacks cutting into the total.  Senior defensive tackle Luke Hibner (Elmhurst, IL/York Community) had two of the sacks and three tackles for a loss.  The Trojans totaled 206 yards passing on 24-41 passing, with one interception.  Bagala accounted for all of the passing totals, including six to sophomore wide receiver Wes Dauz for 23 yards.  Senior linebacker Joe Whealy and junior defensive back Joe Monize were both credited with nine tackles for DSU.

UW-W, 2-0, will travel to Kentucky to take on Campbellsville University Saturday, September 18.  The next home game for the Warhawks will be October 9 at 3:00, with UW-Stout the opponent for the annual Family Day game.  Dakota State, 0-2, will play at Dickinson State University September 18.