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Football

Nationally Ranked Pointers Hold Off Titans

Box Score

The UW-Stevens Point football team used a pair of defensive stops in the final two minutes to preserve a 13-9 victory over UW-Oshkosh on Saturday (Oct. 25) at Titan Stadium. The UW-Oshkosh Homecoming contest marked the 101st meeting between the schools, with UW-Stevens Point registering its 54th victory in the 16th-longest rivalry in NCAA Division III history.

UW-Stevens Point (5-2/2-2 WIAC), ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, scored its winning points on a five-yard touchdown run by halfback Eric Reible with 2:46 left in the game. The five-play, 53-yard scoring drive was aided by a 15-yard pass interference call on UW-Oshkosh and an 18-yard pass from quarterback Scott Krause to wide receiver Tony Romano. UW-Stevens Point's try for the two-point conversion failed as Reible's rushing attempt was stopped short of the goal.

UW-Oshkosh (4-3/1-3 WIAC) took the ensuing kickoff and marched 47 yards in seven plays before quarterback Nick Wara (Jr. • Oshkosh) lost the football on a hit by UW-Stevens Point linebacker Brett Maxwell at the Pointers' 34-yard line with 1:24 remaining in the game. UW-Stevens Point defensive tackle Josh VanderVelden recovered the fumble to halt a UW-Oshkosh drive that included Wara passes of eight yards to running back Chris Kirch (So. • Lake Geneva) and 16 yards to tight end Chad Lindsley (Sr. • Oconomowoc).

Stopping UW-Stevens Point on three rushing plays and effectively using all three of its timeouts, UW-Oshkosh forced a punt and got the football back at its own 37-yard with 59 seconds left in the game. UW-Stevens Point's defense limited UW-Oshkosh's potential comeback victory to just four plays as Wara threw an incomplete pass on first down, was sacked by defensive end Craig Johnson on second down, tossed a 12-yard pass to fullback Aaron Chaltry (Jr. • Peshtigo) on third down and threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, with the last play ending with just 10 seconds left in the contest.

After a scoreless first quarter, UW-Stevens Point tallied the first points of the game on fullback Jason VanderVelden's one-yard dive with 13:05 left in the second period. The Pointers went 86 yards in 18 plays for the score, converting four third down situations. UW-Stevens Point made the score 7-0 on Dan Heldmann's extra point kick.

UW-Oshkosh cut its deficit to 7-3 on place-kicker/wide receiver Mike Kinateder's (So. • Waukesha) 22-yard field goal with 24 seconds left in the quarter. The Titans moved the football 69 yards during the 13-play drive, including Wara passes of 19 yards to Kinateder, 18 to Lindsley and 16 to wide receiver Justin Heinkel (So. • Schofield).

UW-Oshkosh took a 9-7 lead at the 8:26 mark of the third quarter in impressive fashion, moving 98 yards in just four plays after a UW-Stevens Point punt pinned the Titans down at their own two-yard line. After two runs by Chaltry went for no gain, UW-Oshkosh marched length of the field on its next two plays as Wara completed a season-best 73-yard pass to tight end Bob Docherty (Jr. • Oshkosh) and Kirch ran 25 yards for a touchdown. The score remained 9-7 as Kinateder's extra point kick was blocked by UW-Stevens Point defensive end Jake Nantell.

UW-Stevens Point outgained UW-Oshkosh in yards 366-335, with Krause completing 21 of 29 passes for 200 yards and Jason VanderVelden rushing 29 times for 115 yards. Romano caught seven passes for 80 yards and wide receiver Cody Childs seven for 53 yards to lead the Pointers.

UW-Oshkosh got the bulk of its yards via the throwing and running of Wara. Wara completed 16 of 22 passes for 207 yards and rushed 13 times for 26 yards. Kirch led the Titans with 62 yards rushing in 15 attempts, while Lindsley caught a team-best seven passes for 51 yards.

Defensively, Maxwell recorded 14 tackles, one tackle for a loss and one forced fumble to lead UW-Stevens Point, while cornerback Jon Thomas (Sr. • Madison) had 11 tackles and one forced fumble to pace UW-Oshkosh. The Pointers also received 10 tackles from linebacker Steve Vandevoort and the Titans nine tackles from linebacker Craig Korth (Jr. • Menasha).

UW-Oshkosh's loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Titans at Titan Stadium. The string of home victories was the longest for UW-Oshkosh since a span involving games played during the 1976 and 1977 seasons.