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WHITEWATER, Wis. – The top-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team extended the nation's longest winning streak and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs Saturday with a 55-2 victory over Macalester (Minn.) in a first round contest at Perkins Stadium.
 
With the win, UW-Whitewater (11-0) will take on No. 14 Wabash (Ind.), a 33-14 winner over Franklin (Ind.), next Saturday, Nov. 29, at 12 p.m. at Perkins Stadium.
 
The Warhawks, who entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the nation by d3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association, scored three touchdowns in three drives that took just 4:17 off the clock in the first quarter and found the end zone on five of their six drives in the first half.
 
UW-Whitewater's 34 first-half points was the second-highest output in the opening period of the season and the most it has scored in one half in the postseason since posting 38 against Albion in 2011.
 
The team also registered 583 total yards, its second largest output of the season, including 320 rushing yards on 41 attempts, good for an average of nearly eight yards per carry.
 
Defensively, the Warhawks held the Scots (9-2), the Midwest Conference champion, without a touchdown or a field goal despite Macalester's 354 total yards and total time of possession of over 35 minutes.
 
The Scots, who converted just 5-of-20 on third down and 2-of-5 on fourth down, posted a safety in the third quarter when UW-Whitewater recovered a failed punt snap in the end zone.
 
Junior running back Jordan Ratliffe (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Vincent) posted 13 carries for 100 yards, all in the first half, and rushed for a career-high three touchdowns. Senior running back Ryan Givens (Milwaukee/Milwaukee Riverside) recorded eight carries for 97 yards and two scores, all in the second half.
 
Senior quarterback Matt Behrendt (Westchester, IL/Nazareth Academy) finished 17-of-21 (81 percent completion rate) with 213 yards and three touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Joe Worth (Hartford/Hartford Union) caught two of Behrendt's scoring passes and finished with eight receptions for a career-best 90 yards.
 
Senior wide receiver Justin Howard (West Bend/Homestead) added six catches for 84 yards.
 
Sophomore linebacker Paul Foster (Janesville/Craig) led the defense with seven tackles, including one for a loss, and his first career interception. Senior defensive lineman Mykaell Bratchett (Milwaukee /Hope School) tallied three stops, including two for a loss and one sack, and forced a fumble.
 
Junior linebacker Justin Dischler (Milwaukee/Pius XI) and sophomore defensive lineman Tim Regan (Algonquin, IL/HD Jacobs) registered six tackles apiece. Junior linebacker Matthew Hoppe (Wales/Kettle Moraine) contributed with five stops, all solo.
 
The Warhawks registered scoring drives of 1:04, 1:34 and 1:39 in the first quarter to surge to a 21-0 advantage.
 
After three straight passing plays to Howard that totaled 42 yards, Ratliffe rushed on the next three plays, finishing the drive with a two-yard scamper with 12:26 on the clock.
 
After the UW-Whitewater held the Scots on fourth down inside its own 20-yard line, the offense struck again with four of five plays going for more than 15 yards, including Behrendt's 24-yard scoring strike to freshman wide receiver Ricky Finco (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), his third receiving touchdown in his last three games, with 5:35 left in the period.
 
Following a punt, Ratliffe capped a six-play, 52-yard drive with another two-yard score with 2:16 remaining in the quarter.
 
In the second, keyed by another defensive fourth-down stop in its own territory and big runs by junior running back Dennis Moore (Elgin, IL/Elgin) and Behrendt, Ratliffe crossed the goal line from 17 yards out to make it 28-0 at the 8:33 mark.
 
Behrendt and Worth connected just under seven minutes later from one yard out to make it 34-0 with 1:44 left in the half.
 
Foster jumped in front of Macalester quarterback Samson Bialostok's pass on the ensuing drive to stall another Scots attempt in UW-Whitewater territory.
 
After the Macalester safety made it 34-2 early in the third, the Warhawks extended their lead as Behrendt and Worth connected from 13 yards out with 8:17 left in the quarter. UW-Whitewater started at the Scots' 27-yard line after a strip sack by Bratchett was recovered by sophomore defensive lineman John Flood (Spring Grove, IL/Richmond-Burton Community).
 
Givens' fourth-quarter touchdowns came from 24 and 56 yards out.