Titans Win Season Opener On Late Fourth-Quarter Touchdown

A Mitch Gerhartz 2-yard run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter provided the UW-Oshkosh football team its lone lead of the day as the nationally ranked Titans pulled out a 28-24 victory at Huntingdon College during the season opener Saturday (Sept. 4) in Montgomery, Ala.

UW-Oshkosh tied the score at 7 in the first quarter at 14 during the second period and at 21 in the third quarter before overcoming a 24-21 on its penultimate drive of the game on Gerhartz's short run with 5:52 left.

The Titans held Huntingdon College to 4 yards on three plays following the go-ahead score. Following a Hawks punt, UW-Oshkosh then ran the final 4:49 off the clock by picking up three first downs and rushing for 52 yards on 10 consecutive carries during the final drive.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, was playing for the first time since 2019 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that canceled its 2020 regular season and the Division III postseason. Huntingdon College produced a 3-1 record during an abbreviated Spring 2021 schedule. The Titans last played Nov. 23, 2019, during the opening round of the NCAA postseason.

Huntingdon College narrowly outgained the Titans, 404-377, including 217-190 in rushing yards. The Titans held a 22-17 advantage in first downs as both teams converted 4 of 14 third down opportunities.

Gerhartz paced a balanced UW-Oshkosh ground attack, gaining 67 yards on 11 carries to go along with a pair of touchdowns. Peter MacCudden added 54 yards on 11 rushes while Kobe Berghammer and Mac Winkler chipped in 27 and 25 yards, respectively, on the ground.

Berghammer went 11-for-23 passing for 187 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tony Steger led the Titans receiving corps with three catches for 81 yards. Trae Tetzlaff had three catches for 45 yards for the Titans while Stephan Flores and Justin Kasuboski recorded two receptions apiece.

CJ Sykes and Carson Raddatz both registered a team-leading six tackles for UW-Oshkosh, which also received five stops each from Brandon Kolgen, Kyle Scharenbroch, Bryce Edwards and Brody Milz. Raddatz recovered snared an interception, and Tijs Santiago recovered a fumble. Kolgen, Tyler Staerkel and Tory Jandrin accounted for the Titans' three sacks.

Each of the first four touchdowns of the game resulted from big plays as Huntingdon College claimed a 7-0 lead on a 75-yard run from quarterback Landon Cotney with 3:18 left in the first period. The Titans answered 18 seconds later on a 35-yard Gerhartz touchdown run. Cotney then connected with Malachi Harvey on a 55-yard touchdown pass with 8:08 to play in the second quarter, but UW-Oshkosh answered immediately once again via a 93-yard return for a score by Jaylen Grant on the ensuing kickoff.

Grant's touchdown was the fourth longest kickoff return in school history, trailing only Dom Todarello's 98-yarder in 2017, Nick Kilton's 95-yarder in 2002 and Shannon King's 94-yarder in 2000. Grant, who set up the Titans' first touchdown with a 59-yard kickoff return, finished the season opener with a program-record 186 yards on four kickoff returns. Grant's 186 kickoff return yards, which eclipsed Jeremy Roach's previous program record established in 2010, ranks seventh in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history.

Huntingdon College claimed its third lead of the day on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cotney to Dylan Killingsworth with 8:00 to play in the third quarter. However, Berghammer rushed for a 2-yard score and Jaydon Haag converted the extra point to knot the score at 21 with 6:07 left in the third period.

The Hawks, who reached the second round of the 2019 Division III Championship, later reclaimed the lead for the fourth and final time at 24-21 following a Will Edwards 40-yard field goal at the 13:21 mark of the fourth quarter.

After an interception stymied the next UW-Oshkosh drive, the Titan defense forced a punt with just under nine minutes remaining in the game.

Starting at their own 29-yard line and trailing by three points, the Titans marched the decisive 71 yards in seven plays, culminating in Gerhartz's game-winning touchdown plunge. Gerhartz sparked the drive with a 10-yard run before Berghammer completed passes of 25 yards to Flores, Kasuboski for 14 yards and Steger for 13 yards to reach the Hawks' 2-yard line. Haag, who missed his first career field goal during the first quarter after connecting on each of his 12 attempts in 2019, made the extra point to provide the final scoring of the game.

Cotney was 15 of 32 passing for 187 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Hawks. He added 17 rushes for 164 yards and another score. No other Hawk gained more than 17 yards on the ground.

Harvey had two catches for 73 yards for Huntingdon College, which also received three catches apiece from Tyler England and Bailey Densel.

Casey Pepper spearheaded the Huntingdon College defense with a game-best 14 tackles. Cameron Reynolds and Lexie Shaw collected interceptions for the Hawks.

UW-Oshkosh, which played its 126th season opener Saturday, remains on the road at NCAA Division II member Northern Michigan University on Sept. 11 in Marquette, Mich.

Jaylen Grant's 93-Yard Kickoff Return

Photo courtesy of Lou Wood at @louwoodphotography.