Box Score Belton, Texas -- The No. 16 UW-Whitewater football team cruised to a 26-6 win over No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor on the road Saturday. 

The Warhawks drew on early success in the run game. After the defense forced a three-and-out, UWW tapped Brian Stanton (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) for the carry on their first offensive play of the game. His punishing run up the middle went for 17-yards, but the Crusader defense stiffened and ended up forcing a punt. The kick was a good one, rolling out of bounds inside the five-yard line. 

Following another three-and-out, the UMHB punter set up at the back of the endzone as the Warhawks signaled for the fair catch at the 40. The great field position led to the first score of the game. Stanton once again took the handoff on the first play, this time bursting through the middle before bouncing it to the outside for a 28-yard gain into the redzone. Later in the drive, a jet sweep to Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) had the Warhawks at 3rd-and4 at the 7. Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) faked the handoff and rolled to his right finding Patrick Lippe (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington) in the front corner of the endzone for the first score of the game. Seth Adams' (Utica, Ill./La Salle-Peru) kick gave UWW a 7-0 advantage. 

The Cru generated some momentum with a big pass play on their next drive, but the Warhawk defense held forcing another punt. Early in the second quarter, a flag for kick catch interference had the Warhawk offense starting the drive from their own 35. Some offensive trickery led to a big play -- Vasey took the handoff to his right, but instead of bolting up the field, he set and threw a dime to hit Lippe in stride for a 46-yard gain to the UMHB 19. Vasey nearly gave UW-Whitewater a second TD, battling near the goal line after a short pass later in the drive but the officials signaled him out of bounds at the two. Klinkner slipped on a designed quarterback run on the next play to bring out the field goal unit. Adams nailed the 21-yard field goal to push the margin to 10-0. 

Mary Hardin-Baylor responded on their next drive. A deep pass up the left sideline tipped off of a Warhawk defender's hands and fell into the arms of the Cru receiver in the endzone. The extra point kick sailed wide to make the score 10-6. 

A great return by Noah Battle (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) on the ensuing kickoff brought the UWW offense back onto the field at their own 40. A methodical drive up the field stalled in the redzone, so the Warhawks called out the field goal unit for the second time. Lining up for a 34-yard try, Adams' kick was wide left, but a flag flew in on the snap and the officials called offsides on the defense. The penalty was not enough for a first down, but did give Adams another shot, this time from 29 and the sophomore converted. The 13-6 Warhawk advantage held through the rest of the half. 

UW-Whitewater added seven more in the third quarter. A Klinkner-Stanton connection from 21-yards out capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock. Adams' kick made it 20-6 Warhawks. 

The Warhawks had a final scoring opportunity in the fourth, but Adams' field goal sailed wide - his first miss of 2025. 

UWW registered nearly 400 yards of total offense while the defense held the Crusaders to just 60 yards on the ground and less than 250 yards of total offense. The Warhawks dominated time of possession (37:50) while converting 9 of 17 third downs and 2 of 3 fourth downs. The Cru held the ball for just 22:10, converted on 4 of 13 third downs and were 0-2 on fourth downs. 

Klinkner completed 10 of 19 for 95 yards. He tossed three touchdowns - all to different receivers - without an interception while adding 63 yards with his feet. Stanton averaged nearly eight yards per carry with 86 yards on 11 attempts. Lippe was Klinkner's top receiver with 67 yards on three catches. 

Efrein Ramirez (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) and Ethan Gallagher (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) paced the Warhawks defensively with seven tackles each. Gallagher and Noah Moris (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) got to the Crusader quarterback for a pair of sacks, each resulting in a loss of six yards. 

UW-Whitewater will rest up over the bye week before returning to action on October 4 when they host UW-La Crosse for the WIAC opener and the university's annual Family Fest. Kickoff is set for 1 PM at Perkins Stadium.