Whitewater, Wis. -- In front of another huge crowd at Perkins Stadium, the No. 9 Warhawk football team fell to No. 5 UW-La Crosse 23-20 in a double overtime thriller. The 2025 Family Fest attendance number announced in the third quarter -- 20,167 -- the second-highest attendance for a game played on a Division III campus in history. The Warhawks hold that record from Family Fest a season ago.
The game was a tale of two halves ... UWW dominant in the first half and UWL dominant in the second. The Warhawks tallied 17 unanswered in through the first 30 minutes. The Eagles responded after the break in kind sending the battle between two titans into overtime.
The stifling Warhawk defense set the tone early forcing a three-and-out in UWL's first two possessions. The UWW offense opened the scoring in their second drive of the day.
Noah Battle (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) put the Warhawks on the board with a three-yard rush into the endzone to cap an 11-play, 64-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock.
Seth Adams (Utica, Ill./La Salle-Peru) hit the extra point for the 7-0 Warhawk lead.
Both teams tallied takeaways in the second, but it was
Ethan Gallagher's (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) interception that led to points for UWW. The Warhawks needed just two plays to find the endzone after the pick as
Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) took it up the middle for a six-yard TD run. Adams drilled the point after to extend the advantage to 14-0.
The defense came up big again with another three-and-out to bring the UW-Whitewater offense back out with less than three minutes left before halftime. A nine-play, 37-yard drive ended in an Adams' 45-yard field goal as UWW took the 17-0 lead into the intermission.
In the third quarter, the Eagles capitalized on special teams. A low snap on a Warhawk punt was bobbled back into the endzone where a UW-La Crosse player recovered for the special teams score. The point after sailed through the uprights to make it 17-7.
UW-La Crosse pulled to within a touchdown with a field goal early in the fourth. The Eagles kicker hit from 43-yards out to make it a one-score game, 17-10, with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Later in the fourth, on 2nd-and-4 near midfield, the Eagles' quarterback rolled to the right and found a receiver at the 25. The wide out broke a tackle and headed for the endzone. The point after knotted the game 17-17 with less than three to play.
Both defenses held, forcing punts and the Warhawks opted to kneel out the clock and send the game into overtime.
UW-La Crosse had the first opportunity in overtime. The UWW defense held with a big play by
Karsten Libby (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) on 3rd-and-6. His quarterback hurry forced an incomplete pass. The Eagles' kicking unit took the field and Michael Stack split the uprights from 38-yards out to give UWL a 20-17 advantage.
On 3rd-and-9 in the Warhawks' drive,
Brian Stanton (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) hauled in a pass but lost the ball after the catch. The ball rolled out of bounds and Adams came on for the kick. He hit from 37 to send the game into the second OT period.
UW-Whitewater had the first opportunity in the second overtime. On 3rd-and-9, the Eagles got into the backfield for a strip sack and recovered the fumble to put the pressure on UWW's defense.
The Eagles gained seven yards on three straight runs to force 3rd-and-4 at the UWW19. Stack set and the kick sailed through the uprights for the win.
Klinkner was 16-27 for 79 yards in the game. Stanton and Klinkner combined for 88 yards on the ground.
Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) was Klinkner's top target with 52 yards on nine receptions.
Defensively,
Efrein Ramirez (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) and Gallagher paced the UWW defense. Ramirez tallied 15 tackles while Gallagher registered 11 adding a tackle for a loss and an interception. Libby found his way into the backfield four times, hurrying the Eagles quarterback each time.
UW-Whitewater heads to UW-Stevens Point next week. Kickoff at Community Stadium at Goerke Park is slated for 1 PM
