The No. 3 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team batted down a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game Saturday to preserve a 13-7 victory against No. 12 UW-La Crosse in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest in front of 11,991 fans at Perkins Stadium.
 
With the win, the Warhawks (9-0 overall, 6-0 WIAC) clinch a share of the program's 38th conference championship and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, which begin Nov. 20.
 
With three seconds to play, the Eagles (7-2, 5-1) threw a final pass from the UW-W 18-yard line that was deflected by Egon Hein (St. Charles, Ill./North) and fell to the turf with no time remaining.
 
In an evenly-played, turnover-free game, UW-Whitewater held a 353-321 edge in total yards and held UW-La Crosse to 79 yards rushing on 25 attempts (3.2 yards per carry).
 
Alex Peete (Ringwood, Ill./Johnsburg) rushed 27 times for 151 yards, while Max Meylor (Mt. Horeb, Wis./Mt. Horeb) completed 13-of-23 passes for 166 yards. Tyler Holte (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic) tallied five receptions for 99 yards.
 
Hein led the defense with 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and Justin Allen (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) posted seven stops, including one for a loss.
 
Matt Maldonado (Montgomery, Ill./Yorkville) kicked a pair of field goals in the first half, including a career-long 49-yarder in the final minute of the second quarter, to account for the only points of the first 30 minutes.
 
Late in the first quarter, the Eagles had a first-and-goal from the UW-W 1-yard line and were stopped on three consecutive plays, including a pair of running plays stopped for no gain. On fourth-and-goal, UW-La Crosse committed a false start, and pulled the offense off the field for a field goal attempt, which hit the upright to keep the score at 0-0.
 
Maldonado's first field goal, a 27-yarder with 6:44 left in the second quarter, capped a nine-play, 65-yard drive that included a 25-yard run by Peete and a 22-yard run by Jaylon Edmonson (Racine, Wis./Case).
 
Following an Eagle punt, the Warhawks drove 49 yards on nine plays, including a 20-yard completion to Ryan Wisniewski (Sparta, Wis./Sparta), to set up Maldonado's 49-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining.
 
The two teams traded punts in a scoreless third quarter, and UW-Whitewater was unable to cash in on a drive to the UW-L 17-yard line early in the fourth.
 
On the first play from scrimmage after a UW-La Crosse punt, Meylor hit Holte deep down the middle for a 75-yard pass. Two plays later, Meylor ran over left tackle for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Warhawks a 13-0 advantage with 11:21 on the clock.
 
The Eagles drove 74 yards on 15 plays on the next drive to make it a six-point game with 6:17 to play.
 
UW-Whitewater took nearly four mintues off the clock on its next drive, and Maldonado's punt pinned UW-La Crosse back at its own 5-yard line. The Eagles drove all the way down to the Warhawks' 18-yard line before the final incompletion.
 
The Warhawks close the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 13, at UW-Stevens Point. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.