The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team retained the Miner's Axe rivalry trophy Saturday afternoon with a 65-21 victory against UW-Platteville in the 26th annual George Chryst Memorial Bowl in front of 15,406 fans at Perkins Stadium, the second-highest attendance in the 50-year history of the stadium.
 
The Warhawks (5-0 overall, 2-0 WIAC) piled up 630 yards of offense, including 296 on the ground and 334 through the air, and led 44-7 at halftime. The team's 44 first-half points were the most it scored since November of 2018, when it tallied 50 in the first half of a win against Eureka (Ill.) in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
Max Meylor (Mt. Horeb, Wis./Mt. Horeb), who was named UW-W's Offensive Most Valuable Player of the game, threw for a career-high 313 yards on 22-of-27 passing with four touchdowns. Ryan Wisniewski (Sparta, Wis./Sparta) caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns to lead the receiving corps.
 
Egon Hein (St. Charles, Ill./North) paced the defense with five tackles, and Niko Lemke (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central) totaled 2.5 tackles for a loss, including a pair of sacks. Defensive MVP Thomas Wojnowski (Oak Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) collected three tackles and a key interception deep in UW-Platteville territory that set up a Warhawk touchdown.
 
Following a 60-yard return on the opening kickoff by Wisniewski, UW-Whitewater converted a key fourth down on a run by Peete, and Meylor completed the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run around the right side for a 7-0 lead with 10:57 on the clock.
 
The Warhawks intercepted Colin Schuetz on the next two drives. Jaden Hendrickson (Hollandale, Wis./Pecatonica) posted the first one with 9:46 left in the first quarter, and Wojnowski collected the second at the 7:22 mark, which led to an 18-yard touchdown pass from Meylor to Preston Strasburg (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) with 6:33 left in the first.
 
UW-Whitewater added to its lead one drive later. After a three-and-out by the Pioneers (1-4, 0-2), Alex Peete (Ringwood, Ill./Johnsburg) ran straight up the middle untouched past the line of scrimmage for a 57-yard touchdown and a 21-0 advantage with 4:25 remaining in the period.
 
A blocked punt on the ensuing drive by Daniel Baggett (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) went through the back of the end zone for a safety and a 23-0 UW-W lead with 2:21 to play in the quarter.
 
Meylor hit Wisniewski for his first touchdown of the day on the next drive, a 14-yarder that capped an eight-play, 59-yard drive for a 30-0 lead with 12:46 to go in the second quarter.
 
UW-Platteville found the end zone on the next drive, the first points allowed in the first half this season by the Warhawk defense, at the 12:32 mark.
 
With just under four minutes to play in the quarter, Meylor hit Zach Sherman (Oconto, Wis./Oconto) for an eight-yard score to give UW-Whitewater a 37-7 advantage. On the next offensive drive, the Warhawks added to the lead on a 30-yard pass from Meylor to Wisniewski with 14 seconds until halftime.
 
UW-Whitewater continued to add to its lead in the third quarter as Peete plunged in from one yard out with 6:46 on the clock for a 51-7 lead.
 
The two teams exchanged touchdowns the rest of the way. Ryn Ponick capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 10:05 mark of the fourth quarter, and Drake Martin (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) accounted for the final margin with 1:14 to go on a 2-yard touchdown run that completed a nine-play, 75-yard drive.
 
The Warhawks visit No. 9 ranked UW-Oshkosh next Saturday, Oct. 16, at 1 p.m.