Titans Fall From Unbeaten Ranks
UW-Platteville used two fourth-quarter drives, a bit of trickery and a game-ending stop to defeat previously undefeated UW-Oshkosh 20-17 before a large UWP Homecoming crowd Saturday.
Jason Borchardt made two field goals in the last period, helping the Pioneers overcome a 17-14 deficit. The latter came with 3:39 to play, capping a 51-yard drive that was helped by a Coach Mike Emendorfer's fake punt call. Punter Dan Lilla passed to a wide-open defensive tackle Matt Lee, who brought the ball 15 yards to the Titan 33. Lee had practiced for this moment by playing some receiver during the Pioneers' May game in Germany, where he caught two touchdown passes. Nine plays later, Borchardt's kick from 22 yards was good.
The Titans weren't done, however, as they drove down the field in the game's waning minutes.Quarterback Nick Wara completed a huge fourth-and-seven pass for 20 yards to Justin Heinkel, bringing the ball to the UWP nine. Wara spiked the ball on first down, stopping the clock with under 30 seconds to play. The Pioneer defense then forced two incomplete passes, and the Titans missed a 26-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining.
The Pioneers improved to 3-2 overall, while the Titans fell to 4-1. Both teams are 1-1 in the wild Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference race.
UW-Platteville got on the board first, as receiver Max Seroogy took a screen pass from Tom Stetzer and went 30 yards for his first collegiate touchdown. The Titans answered with a five-yard scoring pass from Wara to Bob Docherty and a 37-yard Mike Kinaedeter field goal for a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Pioneers re-took the lead on the first drive of the second half, going 75 yards in 11 plays. The Pioneers, held to 124 first-half yards, opened the second half in the team's jumbo formation. The move worked against the Titan three-man line as the Pioneers rushed on seven of those 11 plays, with Damian Droessler carrying for 21 yards and Stetzer running a quarterback draw for a 14-yard touchdown.
The Titans answered back with a 14-play, 77-yard drive, capped by Andy Moriarty's five-yard touchdown run, making the score 17-14.
Stetzer found Jason Leonard open over the middle for a 45-yard gain, setting up Borchardt's 29-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter and tie the game and set up the final drives.
Stetzer completed 19 of 38 passes for 235 yards, with Matt Kent grabbing five passes for 68 yards. Leonard and Greg Siebers each had four receptions.
Wara hit on 20 of 33 passes for 246 yards, with Chad LaLuzerne catching six balls for 113 yards. Chris Kirch rushed 21 times for 62 yards, while WIAC leading rusher Andrew Stern gained 58 yards on 14 carries before leaving with an injury.
Kendall Syse and Mike Bach led the UWP defensive effort with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, while Adam Lewis came up with a first-quarter interception for the game's only turnover. Droessler added three special teams' tackles, while Lilla averaged 44.2 yards per punt to go along his 15-yard pass.
Jon Thomas and Dustin Drexel led UW-Oshkosh in tackles with five each.