The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team suffered its first loss of the 2024 campaign Saturday at Perkins Stadium. Despite stellar special teams play, the Warhawks fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor 35-17. 

Defense and special teams dominated Saturday at the Perk with more scoring coming from those two facets of the game than from either offense. 

The first two scores of the game went to the Crusaders courtesy of pick-6s. The first came on UW-Whitewater's first drive of the game as Durand Hill jumped a passing lane at the Warhawks' 18 and went the distance. UWW's second drive ended with a 32-yard interception return for touchdown. 

Following a three-and-out for the Warhawks, the UWW defense stepped up with a big play causing a turnover. On the third play of UMHB's next drive, Bryson Clarson (Richland Center, Wis./Richland Center) forced a fumble from the Cru's quarterback and Luke Hagedorn (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) jumped on the loose ball to bring the Warhawk offense back onto the field at the UMHB 30. Despite the good field position, a Warhawk miscue led to another fumble that was recovered by the Crusaders at their own 20. That turnover led to an offensive score on a 30-yard touchdown pass and an early 21-0 UMHB lead. 

The second quarter featured scores from both squads and more turnovers. Deven Magli (Deforest, Wis./Deforest) intercepted a UMHB pass on third-and-six at the Warhawks' 35 early in the quarter. The next big play would come from UW-Whitewater's special teams unit. After forcing a punt on fourth-and-14 at the Cru's own 16, Karsten Libby (Wheaton, Ill./North) was able to get into the backfield and block the punt back to the endzone. Eli Hoelke (New Berlin, Wis./Eisenhower) pounced on the ball in the endzone for the special teams score. Jackson Fox (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) hit the extra point to get the Warhawks on the board, 21-7. 

Nearing the two-minute warning of the first half, the Warhawks forced another turnover - this time it was Matt Burba (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) that knocked the ball loose and Jaden Hendrickson (Hollandale, Wis./Pecatonica) was credited with the recovery at the UWW 45. 

The Crusaders got the ball back on a controversial call. Jackson Chryst (Orinda, Calif./Palo Alto) attempted a short pass to the right side of the line and receiver Brian Wilterdink (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) was hit as the ball reached him. The officials signaled for a catch and fumble with UMHB recovering at their own 40. That led to a touchdown for Mary Hardin-Baylor and a 28-7 advantage at the break. 

The Warhawks seemed to get some momentum early in the second half after scoring on their first drive of the third quarter. Chryst found Wilterdink on a deep ball down the middle for a 43-yard gain down to the UMHB 21 on the second play of the drive. Brian Stanton (Plainfield, Ill./South) gave UWW first-and-goal from the 10 on an 11-yard rush, but the drive stalled in the redzone. Fox drilled the 21-yard field goal to make the score 28-10. 

UW-Whitewater's special teams unit continued to try and spark the Warhawks with big plays. The defense forced another three-and-out and Libby got to the punter once again to give UWW great field position at the UMHB 42, but the Cru defense stiffened and kept the Warhawks off of the board. 

On UMHB's next drive, the Cru running back bounced a rush outside and bolted up the sideline for a 96-yard touchdown and a 35-10 lead. 

The special teams unit for UW-Whitewater wasn't done yet. This time it was Nic Hall (McFarland, Wis./McFarland) getting to the UMHB punter for the block. Patrick Lippe (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington) notched the scoop-and-score picking the ball up at the UMHB 14 with a clear path to the endzone. Fox made it 35-17 with the point after and the final score of the contest. 

Chryst was 20-33 for 236 yards. Stanton led the Warhawks in the ground game with 59 yards on 17 attempts. Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) took a couple of direct snaps and bolted through the line for 32 rushing yards. He added three catches for 40 yards. 

Blake Haggerty (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) was the favorite target on the day with six receptions for 78 yards while Wilterdink posted 51 yards on three catches. 

Defensively, Kyle Koelblinger (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) led UWW with nine tackles including six solo and a tackle for a loss of four yards. 

The Warhawks will rest up with a bye week before returning to the gridiron on Saturday, October 5. UW-Whitewater will host UW-Oshkosh for the annual Family Fest game presented by PremierBank at 1 p.m.