Titans Stun Eagles With Late 14-Point Rally

UW-Oshkosh scored 14 points in the final two and a half minutes to rally from an 11-point deficit and defeat the UW-La Crosse football team, 21-18, on Saturday (Oct. 11) in La Crosse.

UW-La Crosse, which had lost only one home game to the Titans since 1967, took an 18-7 lead on Joshua Fischer's 37-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the game.

UW-Oshkosh (2-3, 2-0 WIAC) then went three-and-out following Fischer's field goal, but stopped the Eagles on their next possession to take control of the football at the UW-La Crosse 48-yard line with 3:39 left.

Freshman Brett Kasper, who was starting his first game at quarterback for UW-Oshkosh, completed four straight passes to direct the Titans to the end zone. A 28-yard toss to Ethan Steinhoff was the largest gain of the drive, which was sealed with Kasper's 8-yard touchdown pass to Zach Kasuboski.

The Titans failed on Kasper's two-point conversion pass and trailed 18-13 with 2:30 remaining. However, UW-Oshkosh recovered the onside kick and on its own 46-yard line to keep any hope of a comeback alive.

Following three short gains, Kasper completed a 16-yard pass to Joe Sommers on fourth-and-3 to keep the UW-Oshkosh drive going. Kasper then completed four straight passes, with the last one going nine yards to Sommers that moved the football to the Eagles' 2-yard line.

Freshman Dylan Hecker then worked his way to the end zone to give the Titans a 19-18 lead with 44 seconds left. UW-Oshkosh went ahead 21-18 on Kasuboski's successful run on the two-point conversion.

UW-La Crosse (1-4, 0-2 WIAC) started the ensuing possession at its own 37-yard line with 39 seconds left. Facing third-and-5 from its own 42, Trent Cummings hit Jared Stan with a 41-yard pass completion. One play later, Cummings threw a 19-yard pass to Tony Bilderback, but Bilderback was ruled out of the end zone. Bilderback was then called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that pushed the football back to the UW-Oshkosh 34-yard line. Incomplete passes on the next two plays ended the game.

The teams traded punts on the first five possessions of the game before UW-La Crosse's Josh Huempfner returned a Kasper interception 46 yards down to the UW-Oshkosh 8-yard line with 1:57 left in the opening quarter. On the next play, Cummings connected with Tony Favre for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 1:50 remaining. Fischer's extra-point attempt was missed. 

The Titans fumbled the football on the next drive, with the Eagles' Drew Graf recovering at the UW-La Crosse 43-yard line. The Eagles moved the ball to the UW-Oshkosh 14-yard line before Fischer booted a 32-yard field goal with 10:24 left in the second quarter.

UW-Oshkosh came right back on its next possession to cut the Eagles' lead to 9-7 with 7:14 remaining in the second period. Hecker scored on a 7-yard run to finish off a drive that went 72 yards in seven plays. Nate Ray converted the extra point.

UW-La Crosse took a 15-7 lead on the ensuing possession. Cummings completed 3-of-4 passes on the 61-yard drive, including a 12-yard touchdown throw to Chris Stackhouse with 3:18 left before the break. Fischer's extra-point failed for the second time.

UW-Oshkosh totaled 388 yards of offense, including 199 in the air. The Titans overcame four turnovers to record their fourth straight win over the Eagles.

UW-La Crosse compiled 232 yard of offense, but just 97 on the ground. The Eagles earned 131 of their yards in the first half.

Kasper finished the contest by completing 25-of-33 passes for 195 yards. He completed 10-of-11 passes for 96 yards on the Titans' final two possessions.

Freshman Sam Mentkowski caught a career-best 10 passes for 48 yards, while Sommers collected six passes for 55 and Kasuboski five for 33. Hecker rushed 17 times for a career-best 110 yards, while Steinhoff totaled 43 yards on 15 carries.

Reese Dziedzic led the UW-Oshkosh defense with 12 tackles. Cameron Brown added nine tackles and Beau Steffens seven. Five different players had a quarterback sack for the Titans.

Cummings completed 17-of-30 passes for 135 yards, including five for 51 yards to Bilderback. Hertrampf tallied 90 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

Mitch Hawkins led UW-La Crosse with 16 tackles, including 10 unassisted. Peter Krien and Shane Rockweiler both contributed 11 tackles.

UW-Oshkosh returns to J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium next Saturday (Oct. 18) to host UW-River Falls in the team's Homecoming Game. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Jim Lund