Titans Suffocate Falcons

The UW-Oshkosh football team held a WIAC opponent scoreless for the first time in 16 years when it defeated UW-River Falls, 24-0, on Saturday (Sept. 30) in River Falls.

UW-Oshkosh's shutout, the Titans' second of the 2006 season, was its first against a WIAC enemy since a 3-0 victory over UW-Superior on Sept. 15, 1990. The Titans opened the 2006 campaign on Sept. 2 with a 57-0 triumph over Ripon College.

UW-Oshkosh (3-2/1-1 WIAC), which lost 14 of its previous 15 games with UW-River Falls, intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble and benefited from a missed field goal to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. Prior to Saturday's contest, UW-Oshkosh hadn't shutout UW-River Falls since a 17-0 win on Oct. 7, 1967.

While the defense was pitching a shutout, UW-Oshkosh's offense was running on all cylinders as it totaled 20 first downs and 435 yards. The Titans averaged seven yards per play to gain 269 yards on the ground and 166 in the air.

Andy Moriarty (Jr. • Mequon) recorded the 10th 100-yard rushing game of his career by rushing 31 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Thanks to the third-best rushing effort of his UW-Oshkosh career, Moriarty moved into fourth-place on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,299 yards. The Titans also received 56 yards rushing from Steve Levonowich (So. • Kenosha).

In the air, UW-Oshkosh's Joe Patek (Sr. • Cedarburg) was exceptional as he completed 10-of-12 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown. Patek completed passes to five different receivers, including Kyle Kubasa (Sr. • West Allis) who caught four for 59 yards and Steve Stoltz (Jr. • Greendale) who caught two for 91 yards and one touchdown.

UW-River Falls (1-3/0-1 WIAC) racked up 16 first downs and averaged 4.1 yards per play to total 243 yards of offense. The Falcons, who were celebrating their first night game at Ramer Field since the 1981 season, gained 123 yards rushing and 120 yards passing.

Nathan Anderson rushed 30 times for 101 yards to lead UW-River Falls, while Jeremy Wolff completed 6-of-20 passes for 120 yards. Wolff's favorite target was Josh Grover who caught five passes for 113 yards.

UW-Oshkosh's defense forced three turnovers as Ryan Radtke (Sr. • Peshtigo) and Josh Wara (Jr. • Oshkosh) intercepted passes while Cameron Adams (Jr. • Brookfield) recovered a fumble. Ryan Neff (Sr. • Merrill) led the Titans with seven tackles, including three for a loss, while Adams and Dave Dejewski (Jr. • Hartland) both tallied six.

The Falcons' defensive efforts were led by the 11 tackles of both Ryan Agrimson and Bruce Baillargeon.

Following a UW-River Falls punt, UW-Oshkosh took a 7-0 lead when Moriarty rushed three yards for a touchdown at the 6:51 mark of the first quarter. The four-play, 45-yard scoring drive featured a 34-yard run by Moriarty.

UW-River Falls was denied some points early in the second quarter when UW-Oshkosh's Radtke intercepted a Wolff pass in the end zone. The Titans turned the interception into three points as Lucas Raschke (Jr. • Clintonville) completed the 10-play, 61-yard scoring drive by drilling a 36-yard field goal with 9:53 left in the period.

The Falcons had a chance to put three points on the scoreboard late in the second quarter, but Spasimir Bodurski's 43-yard field goal sailed left.

After forcing UW-River Falls to punt, UW-Oshkosh increased its lead to 17-0 when Patek threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Stoltz at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter. The eight-play, 93-yard scoring drive also included a 15-yard run by Moriarty.

UW-River Falls fumbled away the football to UW-Oshkosh's Adams on the ensuing possession and the Titans turned the gift into a 24-0 lead as they strolled 57 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. Moriarty finished the scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown run at the 12:55 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Falcons had the football two more times the rest of the game, but one possession ended with a punt and another with a pass interception by UW-Oshkosh's Wara at the Titans' 21-yard line.