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UW-Stevens Point Game Recap (Nov. 8)
 
The top-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team plays in its final tune-up for the NCAA Division III Playoffs and concludes regular season play Saturday at UW-River Falls in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest at 1 p.m. at Ramer Field.
 
The Warhawks (9-0 overall, 6-0 WIAC) enter Saturday's game with a 26-game winning streak, the longest active stretch in all of college football.
 
"I think it's important to finish the regular season strong," UW-Whitewater coach Lance Leipold said. "It's always been our philosophy to enter the postseason strong. We still have plenty of room for improvement, and we're trying to get to where we want to be."
 
With a victory over the Falcons, UW-Whitewater clinches the WIAC championship outright and finishes its seventh undefeated regular season in the last 10 years.
 
"There are a lot of things that can play a part of what may happen now with the postseason," Leipold said. "We never try to get ahead of ourselves, but to be undefeated hopefully produces multiple home games and confidence, which is what you want. It takes a good week of preparation and that's where we're headed."
 
The Warhawks wrapped up at least a share of the conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs last Saturday with a 49-17 triumph over UW-Stevens Point at Perkins Stadium. The program's 11 seniors were recognized prior to playing their last regular season home game.
 
Senior wide receiver Justin Howard (West Bend/Homestead) caught eight passes for a career-high 151 yards and a career-best two touchdowns to lead the offense. Senior quarterback Matt Behrendt (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy) matched a season high with four touchdown passes to go along with 294 yards through the air, and junior running back Dennis Moore (Elgin, IL/Elgin) rushed for a career-high 102 yards.
 
Junior running back Jordan Ratliffe (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Vincent) ran for 58 yards and a pair of scores. Senior tight end Derric Junakin (Cudahy/Cudahy), junior running back Nick Patterson (Sussex/Hamilton) and freshman wide receiver Ricky Finco (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) added one touchdown apiece for UW-Whitewater.
 
Sophomore linebacker Paul Foster (Janesville/Craig) led the defense with eight tackles. Junior linebacker Justin Dischler (Milwaukee/Pius XI) registered six stops, including 1.5 sacks, and broke up a pass.
 
Seniors Marcus McLin (Delavan/Delavan-Darien) and Brady Grayvold (Norway, MI/Norway) led the defensive backfield. McLin tallied four tackles, including a sack, and broke up two passes, while Grayvold totaled four stops, including one for a loss, and registered his league-leading sixth interception of the season.
 
The Warhawks finished the game with 531 total yards and converted 8-of-14 on third down.
 
Entering play Saturday, UW-Whitewater remains atop the conference in numerous statistical categories, including scoring offense (42.2 ppg), scoring defense (6.8 ppg), total offense (479.6 ypg) and total defense (238.3 ypg).
 
Behrendt has completed 68.9 percent of his passes, good for seventh in the nation, and has 23 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He also leads the conference and ranks 11th in the country in passing efficiency.
 
Moore, Patterson and senior Ryan Givens (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Riverside) each rank among the top 10 in the conference in rushing yards per game. Moore currently paces the team with 87 carries for 593 yards, good for 6.8 yards per rush. Ratliffe is second with 448 yards.
 
Howard leads the team's active receivers with 43 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Joe Worth (Hartford/Hartford Union) enters Saturday with 26 receptions for 294 yards and two scores.
 
Dischler leads the Warhawks' defense with 52 tackles (32 solo) and four forced fumbles. Foster is second among linebackers with 42 stops, followed by freshman Matt Seitz (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) with 26 tackles and junior Spencer Jacque (Cedar Grove /Cedar Grove) with 22 tackles.
 
Junior Ryan Winske (Omro/Omro) and senior Zach Nellis (Waupaca/Waupaca) lead the defensive backfield in tackles with 45 and 34, respectively. Grayvold is next with 32 stops and a team-best 10 passes defended, a figure that stands fourth in the WIAC. McLin has 24 tackles and has broken up five passes.
 
Senior Mykaell Bratchett (Milwaukee /Hope School), junior Zach Franz (DeForest/DeForest Area) and sophomore Brandon Tamsett (Waterford/Waterford-Union) lead the defensive line. Franz enters Saturday's game with 24 tackles, including a team-best 7.5 for a loss, while Bratchett has 22 tackles (6.5 for a loss) and Tamsett has 21 (6.0). Bratchett and Franz are tied for the team lead and are tied for seventh in the conference with 4.5 sacks.
 
UW-River Falls (3-6, 2-4) suffered a 34-23 setback at UW-Stout last Saturday. After the Falcons took a 23-7 lead with 38 seconds to play in the first half, the Blue Devils tallied with no time remaining on the clock in the period and went on to score 27 unanswered points.
 
The Falcons finished last season 0-10 overall.
 
"They're one of the more improved teams in the league," Leipold said. "They've been in a lot of games with some close losses. I'm sure this is one they'd definitely like to move forward with and help themselves heading into next season."
 
Quarterback Ryan Kusilek leads the Falcons' offense with 1,548 yards passing and 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Jordan Christianson leads the wide receivers and ranks among league leaders in receptions (40), yards (562) and touchdowns (4). Running back Rance Ashley paces UW-River Falls with 290 yards on the ground.
 
Defensively, the Falcons are led by defensive back Andy Lundgren, who has 61 tackles for the year. Luke Radke leads the linebackers with 52 tackles, including 4.0 for a loss, and a team-best two forced fumbles. Linebacker Cole Sirek leads the team with 8.5 tackles for a loss, and is tied for the team lead with 3.0 sacks.
 
Nick Jacobsen and Derek Tarter lead the defensive line with 30 and 28 tackles, respectively, and have each blocked two kicks.