Titans Grind Out Homecoming Win Over Pointers

Jayden Essman threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in the his first career start and Dylan Hecker ran for 148 yards and one score to lead the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh football team to a 21-10 homecoming victory over UW-Stevens Point on Saturday (Oct. 17) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

UW-Oshkosh (5-1, 3-0 WIAC), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, has now won its first three league games for the fifth consecutive season. The Titans also secured their fifth straight win over the Pointers.

Essman completed 8 of 13 passes for 132 yards, including scoring strikes on his only two pass attempts in the fourth period. Essman connected with Zach Kasuboski on a 20-yard touchdown for a 14-10 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, then found Sam Mentkowski down the middle for 74 yards on UW-Oshkosh's first play of its next possession, and Greg Rand's third extra point of the game capped the scoring with 12:55 remaining.

Hecker had 27 of the Titans' 40 carries, all but 18 of the team's 176 rushing yards and the game's lone touchdown run.

The teams entered the 114th meeting of the longest rivalry in the WIAC with the two highest scoring offenses in the league but played to a scoreless tie at halftime.

UW-Stevens Point (3-3, 1-2 WIAC) was pacing the WIAC with 45.6 points per game and UW-Oshkosh was next with 44.2 per contest. The Titans also entered the contest ranked sixth in the nation by allowing just 8.8 points per game.

The Pointers went into intermission with a 117-110 edge in total yardage, including a 61-13 advantage in passing yards.

UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point combined to punt on the game's first five drives before Pointers kicker Jesse VerVelde missed a 22-yard field goal with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

UW-Oshkosh's first two second-quarter possessions ended with interceptions, but the Titans answered with turnovers deep in their own territory to keep UW-Stevens Point off the scoreboard.

The Pointers' Christian Almonte was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the Titan 23-yard line following the first interception, and Reese Dziedzic forced a fumble by Britton Vernon that Trevor Fiegel recovered on a third-and-6 play from the UW-Oshkosh 18-yard line after the second Titan turnover.

UW-Stevens Point took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field for a touchdown on four plays. Kyle Larson completed a 27-yard pass to Jared Pankow to the UW-Oshkosh 36-yard line and reached the end zone on the next play when Matt Sosinsky took a reverse around the right side, stopped, and heaved a touchdown to a wide-open Pankow for a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the third period.

The Pointers forced a punt on the Titans' initial possession of the third quarter, but Almonte couldn't secure the boot and Dom Todarello pounced on the fumble at the UW-Stevens Point 14-yard line. Four Hecker carries later UW-Oshkosh knotted the score at 7 on a 2-yard run to the right side with 8:05 to go in the third period.

VerVelde hit a 31-yard field goal to give the Pointers a 10-7 lead with 3:41 left in the third period before Kasuboski's touchdown reception on a short pass behind the line of scrimmage capped a nine-play, 98-yard drive with 14:53 remaining. Following a three-play series by UW-Stevens Point, Mentkowski scored on his only catch of the game.

UW-Stevens Point had a 13-play, 52-yard drive stall when Cameron Brown stopped Pankow shy of the first down on fourth-and-6 from the UW-Oshkosh 25-yard line with 5:40 left. The Pointers' final possession ended with three straight incompletions with 42 second to go.

Kasuboski led UW-Oshkosh with three receptions for 27 yards.

Dziedzic paced the Titan defense with eight tackles, including the team's only sack. Brown, Matt Gasper, Branden Lloyd and Marcus Senn added seven tackles apiece for UW-Oshkosh.

Larson completed 14 of 29 passes for 140 yards for the Pointers.

DeJuan Wright paced the UW-Stevens Point backfield with 26 rushes for 124 yards, while Pankow led all players with five receptions for 90 yards.

Brad Birkhauser and Matt Gaffney both recorded seven tackles for UW-Stevens Point, which also received six solo tackles, including two sacks, from Dan Brown. Blake Lehman and Mike Longmeyer registered the Pointers' interceptions.

UW-Stevens Point ended the game with a 319-308 advantage in total yards. The Pointers converted 7 of 16 first downs while the Titans were 4 of 11.

UW-Oshkosh won its fourth straight homecoming game. UW-Stevens Point owns a 59-47-8 record in the series that began in 1896.

With UW-Platteville's 56-19 victory over UW-River Falls (3-3, 2-1 WIAC) on Saturday, UW-Oshkosh is the lone unbeaten team in the WIAC standings.

The Titans will put their five-game winning streak on the line when they travel to 13th-ranked UW-Platteville (5-1, 2-1 WIAC) next Saturday (Oct. 24).