WHITEWATER, WI — The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football (8-0) defeated UW-Oshkosh (2-6) 48-19 under the Saturday night lights at Perkins Stadium. UWW came alive in the second half, outscoring the Titans 35-6 in the second half on the way to their 8th victory of the season.
After the teams traded punts on their opening possessions, UWW put together the quarter's only scoring drive, moving 72 yards in 10 plays from its 25.
Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) converted third-and-4 with a 12-yard pass to
Collin Fritts (Woodville, Wis./Baldwin Woodville), added completions of 11 yards to
Tommy Novotny (Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette) and 37 yards to
Tyler Vasey (Crystal Lake, Ill/Prairie Ridge), and
Grant Urban (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) finished the series with a 20-yard field goal at 6:05 for a 3-0 lead.
UWO held the ball for the rest of the first quarter, finishing their drive with a Demir Ashiru QB scramble at 14:11 in the second.
The Titans added a 35-yard field goal at 9:00, to go up 10-3, but UWW answered with a 65-yard drive as
Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) completed four straight passes before finding
Luke Roeder (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville) for an 18-yard touchdown.
Grant Urban's (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) kick tied it at 10-10.
UWO moved back in front on a 36-yard field goal that bounced off the bottom cross bar over the uprights at 2:56.
The Warhawks went hurry up has Klinkner threw three more 10+ yard completions to Vasey, Roeder, and
Jaydon Schulz (Franklin, Wis./Martin Luther) to set up Urban's 38-yard field goal that tied the game at 13-13 with 1:20 left.
Drew Kortz (Freedom, Wis./Freedom) stopped UWO's final scoring chance with an interception at the UWW 7 and a 43-yard return, and the Warhawks went to halftime tied 13-13 after Urban's 52-yard field goal try at the horn was just short.
After an opening UWO possession ended with a punt, Novotny broke a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to put the Warhawks up for good.
UWW followed the explosive run with an 85-yard drive capped off with a Klinkner keeper from 5-yards out for a 27-13 lead.
UWO found the end zone the only time in the second with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ashiru to Nick Hermansen. The Warhawk special teams kept a point off the board, blocking the extra point to keep the score at 27-19.
UWW answered back with a 68-yard drive, overcoming a holding penalty that wiped out the first touchdown when Klinkner hit
Conor Johnson (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) for a 19-yard touchdown on third-and-17 at 1:34
UWW began the fourth quarter at the UWO 40 after a 24-yard punt return from Vasey. After
Justin Klinkner's (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) 16-yard run and a 15-yard completion to Vasey moved the drive inside the 5, Klinkner scored from 4 yards out at 10:49 before
Grant Urban's (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) kick made it 41-19.
The defense forced a punt on the next UWO possession, and UWW went 50 yards in only four plays, before Klinkner ran in his third touchdown of the day to put the Warhawks up 48-19.
Deven Magli (Deforest, Wis./Deforest) ended the Titans comeback attemps with a pass break up one third-down pass and then stopped a fourth-down rush to give UWW the ball at the UWO 44 with 3:46 left.
The Warhawks played the clock with three rushes before drawing the Titans offside on 4th-&-1 to ice the game. Warhawks went into Victory formation to take down the Titans.
Justin Klinkner (Two Rivers, Wis./Two Rivers) completed 26 of 36 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for three more scores. Novotny finished with 173 rushing yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and added two catches for 15 yards. Vasey caught 12 passes for 164 yards, rushed once for 16 yards and added 36 yards on three punt returns.
On defense,
Carter Sessa (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) recorded a team-high 12 tackles & a pass break-up.
Efrein Ramirez (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) had 9.0 tackles, and
Tyler Vogt (Middleton, Wis./Middleton) &
Noah Moris (Union Grove, Wis./Union Grove) each had 7. Moris had the Warhawks lone sack of the night on a crucial third down play in the third quarter.
The Warhawks will head to 2nd-ranked UW-Platteville for the George Chryst Bowl & Battle for the Axe. Both teams come into the game 8-0 after UW-Platteville defeated UW-Stevens Point earlier in the day.
