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Football

Knights Rally To Defeat Titans

Box Score

Ranked 24th in the NCAA Division III by D3Football.Com, the Wartburg College football team rallied from a 17-point third quarter deficit and then held on to defeat upset-minded UW-Oshkosh, 24-20, on Saturday (Sept. 7) night at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh (0-1) took advantage of three turnovers and a missed field goal by Wartburg College in the first half to take a 20-3 lead. The Titans took a 7-0 lead at the 5:35 mark of the first quarter when free safety Nick Carlson (Sr. • Menasha) intercepted a pass thrown by Wartburg College quarterback Jake Olsen and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. Following an UW-Oshkosh punt, Wartburg College placekicker Jordan Maus made the score 7-3 on a 35-yard field goal with 5:42 left in the second quarter.

UW-Oshkosh totaled only 44 yards of offense on its first-four drives of the game, but extended its lead to 20-3 by compiling 112 yards on its fifth and sixth possessions. Wide receiver Steve Wagner (Sr. • Lomira) accounted for 94 of those 112 yards by catching touchdown passes of 40 and 54 yards from quarterback Nick Wara (So. • Oshkosh) at the 3:31 and 45 second marks of the second quarter, respectively. Wagner's first touchdown was set up by cornerback Nick Kilton's (Fr. • Waukesha) 35-yard kickoff return, while his other was set up by linebacker Craig Korth's (So. • Menasha) recovered fumble. Wartburg College had an opportunity to close its 17-point deficit at the end of the second period, but Maus' 43-yard field goal hit the crossbar as time expired.

In the second half, Wartburg College scored touchdowns on three of its first-five possessions to take a 24-20 lead. The Knights scored their game-winning points on Olsen's 55-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Winters with 3:57 remaining in the contest. Earlier, Olsen completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Winters at the 3:57 mark of the third quarter and running back Justin Beatty ran two yards for a touchdown at the 7:01 mark of the fourth quarter.

UW-Oshkosh, which dropped a 31-10 decision to Wartburg College last year, threatened to regain the lead twice in the closing 3:57 of the game. The Titans had a five-play, 24-yard drive end when they ran out of downs at their own 48-yard line with 1:59 left in the game and a nine-play, 54-yard drive cancelled at the Knights' 31-yard line when the contest ended. UW-Oshkosh's final play of the game was a pass thrown out of the end zone by Wara.

Wartburg College outgained UW-Oshkosh in yards, 439-246, and held a 21-13 advantage in first downs. The Knights converted only three of their 14 third down conversions, but were successful on four of their five on fourth down tries. Among the fourth down conversions for Wartburg College was a fourth-and-15 play that resulted in Olsen's 30-yard scoring toss to Winters.

Running back Brad Hodapp led Wartburg College in rushing with 110 yards in 14 carries, while Beatty added 89 in 29 attempts. Olsen completed 16 of 26 passes for 218 yards, including five for 108 yards to Winters.

UW-Oshkosh's Wara completed 13 of 29 passes for 170 yards, including nine for a career-best 145 yards to Wagner. Wara made his first collegiate start for UW-Oshkosh, replacing Alan Beversdorf who stated the previous 27 games for the Titans. UW-Oshkosh's ground game netted only 76 yards, with running back Matt Kaufman (Sr. • Porterfield) leading the way with 36 yards in 11 attempts.

Defensively, linebacker Justin Bishop led Wartburg College in tackles with eight, while Carlson and Korth paced UW-Oshkosh with 11.5 and 10, respectively.