Warhawks Win Nationally Ranked Battle With Last-Minute Score
Drew Patterson broke away from three tacklers and raced 16 yards for the game-winning score with 55 seconds remaining as UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Oshkosh, 17-14, in front of an NCAA Division III football crowd of 17,535 on Saturday (Oct. 8) at Perkins Stadium in Whitewater.
UW-Oshkosh had reclaimed a 14-10 advantage on a 1-yard touchdown run by Dylan Hecker at the 7:54 mark of the fourth period, but UW-Whitewater answered with a 14-play, 6:46 drive on the ensuing possession that was culminated by Patterson's scoring run on third-and-14.
The Titans went into halftime with a 7-0 lead on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brett Kasper to Dom Todarello early in the second quarter.
The Warhawks took its first lead at 10-7 in the third period on a 36-yard field goal from Will Meyer and an 18-yard scoring pass from Cole Wilber to Brent Campbell. It marked UW-Oshkosh's first deficit of the season.
UW-Whitewater (5-0, 2-0 WIAC), ranked second in the nation, won its 28th consecutive home game. Fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh (4-1, 1-1), the defending WIAC champion, lost for the just fourth time in its past 32 league contests.
UW-Oshkosh concluded Saturday's game – the 109th in a series that began in 1897 – with a 346-279 advantage in yards, including 268-104 during the first half.
Both teams converted three turnovers into seven points. The Titans lost a pair of fumbles inside the UW-Whitewater 15-yard line and threw an interception at their own 16-yard line.
Patterson ended the game with 20 carries for 81 yards while Jarrod Ware added 15 rushes and 67 yards for UW-Whitewater.
Wilber, the Warhawks backup quarterback, completed 14 of 24 passes for 125 yards and one score. UW-Whitewater starter Chris Nelson was held to 1-for-4 passing for two yards during the first two quarters.
Marcus Hudson paced the Warhawks with six receptions for 53 yards. Campbell made three grabs for 31 yards and one touchdown, and Tony Gumina two catches for 27 yards.
UW-Whitewater's Famus Hasty led all players with nine tackles, all solo. He forced both of UW-Oshkosh's fumbles and recovered one.
The scoreless first quarter featured three punts by UW-Whitewater and two punts and a missed 52-yard field goal by UW-Oshkosh. The Titans out-gained the Warhawks, 150-29, during the opening period.
UW-Oshkosh marched five plays for 54 yards in just 89 seconds to take a 7-0 lead as Kasper hit Todarello down the middle on a 10-yard scoring strike with 13:50 left in the second quarter. Kasper passed for 34 yards and ran for 18 more on the scoring drive.
The Titans' Sam Olszewski recovered a fumble by Ware on the ensuing kickoff, but their drive stalled at the UW-Whitewater 5-yard line. Hecker had four consecutive carries for 22 yards, but Kasper misfired on two straight passes in the end zone, including one on fourth-and-3.
UW-Oshkosh's Reese Dziedzic recovered a fumble by Wilber at the UW-Whitewater 26-yard line on the next Warhawks possession. However, the Titans fumbled the ball back to UW-Whitewater on the following play at the Warhawks 12-yard line.
After a punt by UW-Whitewater, the Titans drove 11 plays and 53 yards before Hasty recovered his second fumble of the game at the Warhawks 6-yard line with 2:41 remaining before intermission.
UW-Whitewater answered with an 11-play drive that concluded with a pair of incompletions from the UW-Oshkosh 27-yard line as time expired in the opening half.
The Warhawks took the opening drive of the second half 54 yards on 12 plays, and Meyers nailed a 36-yard field goal with 10:40 to go in the third period.
The teams exchanged punts on the next two possessions before UW-Whitewater's Vince Mason intercepted a pass at the UW-Oshkosh 16-yard line. The Warhawks cashed in the turnover two plays later when Wilber found Campbell in the back of the end zone with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter.
UW-Oshkosh's Derrick Jennings Jr. recovered a fumble by Wilber near midfield with just under 12 minutes to play. After the Titans converted a pair of third downs to advance the ball to the UW-Whitewater 25-yard line, UW-Oshkosh ran on five consecutive plays, including a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Hecker. Devon Linzenmeyer accounted for three rushes for 31 yards and Hecker three totes for 11 yards on the Titans' go-ahead drive that lasted 11 plays and spanned 53 yards in just under four minutes.
The Warhawks' 14-play, 72-yard game-winning drive included 10 rushes for 45 yards. The decisive possession began with five consecutive carries for 19 yards before Wilber hit Gumina for 15 yards to the UW-Whitewater 47-yard line. On first-and-20 following a holding penalty, Wilber connected with Campbell for five yards, followed by a pair of rushes from Patterson for 16 total yards and a Warhawk first down at the Titan 29-yard line.
A 12-yard pass from Wilber to Gumina advanced the ball to the UW-Oshkosh 15-yard line. A false start penalty and a 2-yard loss rushing loss backed up the Warhawks to the 22-yard line, but the Titans were called for defensive holding to give UW-Whitewater first-and-10 at the 12. UW-Oshkosh's Rajon Hall dropped Ware for a 4-yard loss and Wilber threw an incomplete pass before Patterson gave the Warhawks the lead for good.
UW-Oshkosh's last possession began from its own 40-yard line after a 26-yard kickoff return by CJ Blackburn with 48 seconds to play. The Titans converted a fourth-and-3 on a pass from Kasper to Chad Redmer that advanced the ball to the UW-Oshkosh 47-yard line. However, two incompletions preceded a sack by Bryce Leszczynski and Brandon Tamsett as time expired.
Matt Seitz added seven tackles for the Warhawks, who also received 1.5 sacks from Tamsett and two tackles, one fumble recovery and one interception from Mason.
Each of the last three meetings in the series have been decided by three or fewer points. Last season, the Titans and Warhawks split a pair of games in Oshkosh. UW-Oshkosh won, 10-7, during the regular season to snap UW-Whitewater's collegiate-football leading 36-game winning streak. The Warhawks then defeated the Titans, 31-29, in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA postseason.
Kasper completed 17 of 34 passes for 157 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Linzenmeyer led all players with 86 rushing yards on 10 carries while Hecker added 18 rushes for 69 yards and one touchdown, and Blackburn three carries for 44 yards.
Redmer paced the Titans with six receptions for 66 yards. Todarello chipped in three catches for 11 yards and his fourth receiving touchdown of the season.
The Titans defense was led by eight tackles each from Reese Dziedzic, Johnny Eagan and Steve Forner. All of Eagan's tackles were solo.
UW-Oshkosh's Justin Watson recorded one sack while Rajon Hall had five tackles, including a game-high three for loss.
The previous recorded highest attendance in Division III football was 17,327 at a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest between the University of St. Thomas and Saint John's University on Sept. 26, 2015.
UW-Oshkosh plays at UW-Stevens Point next Saturday (Oct. 15).
Photo courtesy of D3photography.com