Whitewater, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team opened the 2025 campaign with a 45-14 win over Carleton Saturday. 

It was a beautiful fall day at The Perk and the Warhawk faithful came out to cheer on UWW for their first game of 2025. The first Warhawk points of the season came on their first offensive possession with a Seth Adams (Utica, Ill./La Salle-Peru) 23-yard field goal that capped a 10-play, 81-yard drive. 

The offense surged in the second quarter putting up 21 points to jump out to a 24-7 at the break. Quarterback Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) registered UWW's first TD of the season, punching it in from a yard out to put the Warhawks up 10-0.

After the Knights put up a score to pull within 10-7, Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge) responded the way he does it best - a 91-yard kickoff return to the house to push the lead back to 10. Another three-and-out for the defense gave UWW the ball back with just under six minutes to go before the break. The Warhawks used up nearly the entire clock before Cole Berghorn (Walworth, Wis./Badger) blasted through the middle of the line for a three-yard touchdown run to make it 24-7. 

On the other side of the intermission, Brian Stanton (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run with less than five remaining in the third. Klinkner tacked on another TD, this time a 59-yard spurt to push the advantage to 38-7 by the end of the third quarter. 

Stanton struck again early in the fourth, breaking free for a 66-yard touchdown scamper. The final score of the game came on a goal line rush for the Knights. 

Klinkner was 7-8 for 72 yards in the passing game. He gained 107 yards on 19 attempts with his legs adding a pair of touchdowns. Stanton was the leading rusher, with 201 yards on seven attempts - an average of 28.7 per carry - and two scores. 

Vasey hauled in three catches for 28 yards and averaged 58 yards per kickoff return. Adams was perfect on the day -- nailing the only field goal he attempted and drilling all six points after. 

Defensively, Karsten Libby (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) paced UWW with 10 tackles, a sack and an interception. Carter Sessa (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) also picked off a Carleton pass in the contest. 

The Warhawks will head out on the road the next two weeks visiting Saint Xavier University in Illinois on September 13th and Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas on the 20th. After the bye week, UW-Whitewater will be back in Perkins Stadium to host UW-La Crosse on the team's annual Family Fest, Alumni Day and Shriners Day.