Falcons Eke By Titans In Nationally Ranked Battle

RIVER FALLS, Wis.–Justin Scheberl made a go-ahead 23-yard field goal with under eight minutes to play and UW-River Falls held on for a 27-24 victory over UW-Oshkosh during a matchup of nationally ranked Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football teams Saturday (Oct. 8) at Smith Stadium at Ramer Field.

UW-Oshkosh (3-2, 1-1 WIAC), ranked 16th in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, scored 21 unanswered points to claim a 24-17 lead with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter following a trio of Kobe Berghammer touchdown passes.

Seventeenth-ranked UW-River Falls (4-1, 2-0 WIAC) knotted the score at 24 on a Kaleb Blaha touchdown run and an extra point at the 1:28 mark of the third period. Blaha's second rushing touchdown of the day capped a 14-play, 56-yard drive.

The Falcons then forced a UW-Oshkosh punt on the ensuing possession and marched 62 yards in 18 plays during what turned out to be the game-winning drive. The Titans stopped UW-River Falls for no gain on a third-and-goal play from the 6-yard line. However, Scheberl drilled the go-ahead field goal with 7:57 to go in the game.

The teams exchanged turnovers on the next two possessions as UW-River Falls' Michael Brown recorded an interception and UW-Oshkosh's Mackade Mella recovered a fumble at the Titans' 10-yard line with 3:12 left.

The Titans went on to convert a third-and-10 and a fourth-and-3 en route to reaching the Falcons' 38-yard line, but a UW-River Falls sack set up a fourth-and-15 for the Titans with under a minute to go. The Falcons clinched the win on the next play via a Brown interception – his second in as many possessions – with 11 ticks remaining.

UW-River Falls built its 17-3 lead on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Blaha to Mason Van Zeeland in the first quarter, a 4-yard Blaha touchdown run during the second period and a Scheberl 23-yard field goal with 4:57 left before halftime.

UW-Oshkosh opened the scoring on a 34-yard field goal by Nolan Mobley at the 5:21 mark of the first quarter. The Titans later trimmed their deficit to 17-11 following a 17-yard scoring pass from Berghammer to DJ Stewart on a fourth-and-3 play. Jimmy Duval then plowed into the end zone for a two-point conversion with 70 second left in the opening half.

The Titans later tied the game at 17 on a 4-yard Berghammer touchdown pass to Clayton Schwalbe early in the third quarter and took the lead on a 4-yard scoring pass from Berghammer to Tony Steger at the 5:33 mark of the third period.

UW-River Falls outgained the Titans, 392-289, including 220-90 rushing.

Blaha passed for 172 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing 34 times for 143 yards and a pair of scores.

Berghammer threw for 199 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He added 26 yards on the ground.

Peter MacCudden paced the Titans backfield with 15 carries for 54 yards.

Steger led all players with four catches for 38 yards and a score for the Titans. Trae Tetzlaff had two grabs for a game-high 41 yards while Schwalbe finished with three receptions for 31 yards. The touchdown catches were Steger's team-leading fifth this season and 12th career, Stewart's second on the year, and the first of Schwalbe's career.

Tory Jandrin spearheaded the UW-Oshkosh defense with a game-best 13 tackles, including 11 solo and one for loss. The Titans also received nine tackles from Kyle Scharenbroch and seven stops apiece from Mella and Carson Raddatz. Jhe'veon St. Julien snared an interception for the Titans on the opening drive of the game.

UW-Oshkosh plays at fourth-ranked UW-Whitewater on Friday (Oct. 14).