Football Falls in Wheaton
WHEATON, Ill.- The UW-Oshkosh football team (1-1) lost to Wheaton College (Ill.) (1-0) on Saturday (Sept. 9) in a contest between nationally ranked opponents. The Titans are currently ranked No. 19 and the Thunder No. 13.
This was the first meeting between the programs.
UWO was held to 333 offensive yards against Wheaton's 449 yards and owned a 23:27 time of possession, 13 minutes fewer than the Thunder.
Kobe Berghammer, the starting quarterback for the Titans, completed 15-of-28 passing attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns including a 61-yard pass to wide receiver Londyn Little in the first quarter and added 55 yards on the ground on 11 rushes. He also threw two interceptions.
Little led the Titans with 86 yards on two catches, followed by Trae Tetzlaff (49) and Clayton Schwalbe (22), who each had a touchdown.
Doug Burson rushed for a touchdown and 27 yards and Kaio Harn, a new addition to the roster, rushed for 63 yards.
Defensive back Carson Raddatz recorded 14 tackles, including seven solo to pace the Titan defense. Eli Tranel also registered double-digit tackles, with 10 (seven solo). Bryce Edwards and Bryce Hinn each reached the backfield and sacked Thunder quarterback Ben Thorson.
UWO scored first after forcing a punt on the opening drive of the game. Starting on their 44-yard line, the Titans recorded three first downs to reach the Wheaton 15-yard line when Berghammer threw a short pass to Tetzlaff and Tetzlaff ran the rest of the way for the touchdown. The score sat at 6-0 when Nolan Mobley missed the extra point.
Wheaton scored on the following drive when Thorson rushed from a yard out to tie the score up at 7.
Stalled out at the Wheaton 5-yard line on the next drive, Mobley got a chance for redemption and delivered on a 22-yard field goal.
The Thunder took the lead for the first time at the beginning of the second quarter. Cristian Carstens rushed for five yards, finishing a drive that started on the Wheaton 27 with 4:12 remaining in the first quarter.
Four scoreless drives later, Wheaton extended their lead to 17-9 when Mateo Jesch kicked a 26-yard field goal.
In the second half, the Titans scored first. In their first play of the drive, Harn rushed for 35 yards across midfield. Eight plays later with short gains, Berghammer threw his second touchdown of the game to Schwalbe for 15 yards. Berghammer attempted a two-point conversion to try and tie the game up at 17 but was stopped short of the line.
The third quarter remained scoreless the rest of the way. Much like their second quarter touchdown, the Thunder finished their third quarter drive by scoring on a Carstens rush.
The Titans started on their 41 yard line the following drive due to Little's 41-yard kickoff return. A roughing the passer penalty on the Thunder eventually moved the Titans to the Wheaton 38. Little then made it to the 13 yard line on a reception and Burson followed with a rushing touchdown. Again down two points (23-21), Berghammer attempted a rushing two-point conversion, and again, was stopped short.
Wheaton scored once more on a rushing touchdown from Giovanni Weeks to make the score 30-21.
The Titans will head to Marshall, Texas to face off against East Texas Baptist University (1-1) next Saturday (Sept. 16) at 1 p.m. UWO opened the 2022 season at home against the Tigers in their first-ever meeting and prevailed by a lopsided score of 52-13.