The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team secured its third victory over a nationally-ranked opponent of the 2021 season Saturday with a 32-13 win at No. 18 UW-Oshkosh in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.
 
The Warhawks (6-0 overall, 3-0 WIAC) tallied 22 unanswered points in the second quarter and made key defensive stops in the fourth quarter to withstand a comeback by the Titans. UW-W forced a pair of turnovers in the game and held the ball for nearly 11 minutes in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
 
Running back Alex Peete (Ringwood, Ill./Johnsburg) rushed for 79 yards and totaled two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) in the contest. Wide receiver Ryan Wisniewski (Sparta, Wis./Sparta) caught six passes for 121 yards.
 
Quarterback Max Meylor (Mt. Horeb, Wis./Mt. Horeb) completed 17-of-25 passes for 211 yards and two scores.
 
Linebacker Ryan LIszka totaled six tackles and two interceptions, including a pick-six late in the fourth quarter, to lead the defense, which limited UWO to 217 yards of total offense.
 
Linebacker Aaron Sturdevant (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) posted a team-high nine tackles, and defensive back Egon Hein (St. Charles, Ill./North) finished with five tackles.
 
UW-Oshkosh (3-2, 1-2) got on the board first scoring a touchdown with 3:45 to play in the first quarter for the first points allowed by the UW-W defense in any first quarter this season.
 
The Warhawks tied the game at 7-7 on their first drive of the second quarter. Meylor ran for 16 yards on the first play of the drive before back-to-back completions to Wisniewski of 41 and 28 yards, respectively. On third-and-goal from the UWO 7-yard line, Meylor hit Tyler Holte (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic) for a 7-yard score with 11:21 on the clock.
 
UW-Whitewater took the lead for good on the ensuing kickoff as the Titans were called for an illegial forward pass in the end zone for a safety.
 
On the next possession, Meylor hit Wisniewski for 42 yards and later found Holte for seven yards on third down to set up his 5-yard touchdown pass to Peete to make it 15-7 near the midway point of the second quarter.
 
The two teams exchanged punts before Liszka's first pick set the Warhawks up at UW-Oshkosh's 25-yard line. A 20-yard completion from Meylor to Sam DeLany (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine) on third down set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Peete with 39 seconds to play in the half for a 22-7 advantage.
 
The Titans controlled most of the third quarter, cutting their deficit to 22-13 with a touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half. UWO later drove inside UW-W territory, but a 41-yard field goal was pulled wide left to give the Warhawks the ball back with 12:57 to play in the contest.
 
On the ensuing drive, Peete carried nine times for 48 yards to help set up a 36-yard field goal by Matt Maldonado (Montgomery, Ill./Yorkville) for a 25-13 lead with 4:54 remaining in the game.
 
The two teams exchanged punts before Liszka posted his second interception of the game, returning it 31 yards to the end zone with 1:26 left to account for the final margin.
 
The Warhawks visit UW-River Falls next Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m.