Second-Quarter Outburst Leads Titans To Win Over Pointers

The UW-Oshkosh football team tallied the first 20 points of the game and cruised to a 20-7 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Saturday (Oct. 12) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

UW-Oshkosh (4-1, 2-0 WIAC) scored points on offense, defense and special teams en route to remaining tied atop the WIAC standings and winning its 24th consecutive regular season home game.

The Titans opened the scoring with a 43-yard pass from Kobe Berghammer to Riley Kallas early in the second quarter before Logan Heise returned an interception 27 yards to the end zone, and Jaydon Haag hit the second of his two field goals for a 20-0 UW-Oshkosh lead at the 9:24 mark of the third period.

UW-Stevens Point (2-3, 1-1 WIAC), which did not advance the ball past the Titan 36-yard line until its 44th play with less than seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, avoided being shut out for the first time since 2005 when ShamaJ Williams ran into the end zone from 2 yards out with 6:00 left in the third period.

UW-Oshkosh beat the Pointers for the eighth time in the past nine meetings despite UW-Stevens Point holding advantages of 303-230 in scrimmage yards, 251-96 in passing yards and 17-15 in first downs. However, the Pointers were penalized eight times and committed both of the game's two turnovers – both via interceptions – while UW-Oshkosh committed just one penalty, did not allow a sack, and limited UW-Stevens Point to 2-for-14 on third downs and 1-for-5 on fourth downs.

Berghammer finished the game 11 of 22 passing for 89 yards to go along with his ninth touchdown pass of the year.

Six Titan ballcarriers combined for 134 rushing yards on 38 attempts as Mitch Gerhartz paced the team with 56 yards on 17 totes. UW-Oshkosh entered the game with the WIAC's most prolific rushing attack at 172.3 yards per contest.

Kallas led UW-Oshkosh with four receptions for 73 yards and his third touchdown grab of the year and 12th career.

The Titans' top-rated defense in the WIAC was spearheaded Nick Noethe's career-high 12 tackles, including nine solo.

Brandon Kolgen, Trenton LaCombe, Tyler Staerkel and Connor Zirpel each notched sacks for the Titans. Heise and Jared Saad accounted for UW-Oshkosh's two interceptions.

UW-Oshkosh went into the day ranked third in the NCAA Division III by allowing 116.8 passing yards per game while listing 13th in sacks and 17th in first downs allowed. The Titans also led the conference with 248.8 yards allowed per game.

UW-Stevens Point quarterback completed 24 of 47 passes for 251 yards with a pair of interceptions.

Williams concluded the game with 17 carries for 58 yards and a score for the Pointers.

UW-Stevens Point's Sonny Soquet led all players with five receptions for 39 yards. Jonte Webb had four grabs for a game-high 87 yards for the Pointers.

Berkley Corvino collected a game-best 12 tackles, including four for loss, for UW-Stevens Point, which also received 10 stops from Kameron Kryzanski.

The scoreless opening quarter featured three UW-Oshkosh punts while the Pointers turned the ball over on downs and tossed an interception on their first two possessions before punting on their third drive.

UW-Oshkosh got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 1:59 to go in the first quarter and proceeded to reach the end zone six plays later on Berghammer's scoring strike to Kallas. Jimmy DuVal kept the drive alive with a 19-yard run on third-and-4 on the final play of the first period.

The Titans' Connor Hanley blocked a punt on the following UW-Stevens Point possession, giving UW-Oshkosh the ball back at the Pointer 10-yard line. Haag later cashed in Hanley's block with a 25-yard field goal that increased the Titan lead to 10-0 at the 10:17 mark of the second quarter.

After the teams exchanged punts on the ensuing two drives, Heise snared an Urmanski pass on the second play of the UW-Stevens Point possession and returned the Titans' second interception of the half 27 yards to the end zone. Haag's extra point provided UW-Oshkosh a 17-0 cushion with 5:43 remaining in the second period.

UW-Oshkosh capped its first possession of the second half with a 23-yard Haag field goal. The 58-yard drive included seven consecutive rushing attempts ahead of Haag's fourth successful field goal in four attempts on the year.

UW-Stevens Point advanced past the UW-Oshkosh 36-yard line for the first time following a 35-yard pass from Urmanski to Webb down to the Titan 12. Urmanski then found Jeffery Williams on a 10-yard pass before Williams got the Pointers on the scoreboard with his 2-yard run.

The Pointers' initial three drives of the fourth quarter drives resulted in one punt and a pair of turnovers on downs before time ran out with UW-Stevens Point at its own 42-yard line. UW-Stevens Point did not take a snap inside the Titan 34-yard line during the entire fourth period.

Saturday's meeting was the 117th in the longest rivalry between two Division III public schools. UW-Stevens Point maintains a 61-48-8 record in the series with UW-Oshkosh that began on Oct. 10, 1896.

UW-Oshkosh remains at home to host UW-Eau Claire next Saturday (Oct. 19).