Titans Celebrate Homecoming Win Over Pointers
Brett Kasper threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns, Dylan Hecker rushed for two scores and the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh football team rolled to a 49-14 victory over UW-Stevens Point on Saturday (Oct. 7) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
Kasper hit Sam Mentkowski on a 64-yard touchdown pass on the game's first play from scrimmage, and the Titans extended their lead to 49-0 with 13:04 remaining.
UW-Oshkosh (4-0, 2-0 WIAC), ranked third in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, owned a 417-98 advantage in total yards during the first half and concluded the contest with a 595-314 edge. The balanced Titans rushed for 300 yards on 50 carries and passed for 295 yards on 19 attempts.
Kasper went 12-for-16 passing on the way to his third four-touchdown game of his career. His 65 career touchdown passes rank 10th in WIAC history.
Hecker had nine carries for 36 yards as the Titans utilized 10 ball carriers on the day. Hecker increased his school-record total to 51 career rushing touchdowns, which ranks third in WIAC annals.
Dom Todarello paced UW-Oshkosh with a career-high 78 rushing yards on just six carries. He also had a 20-yard touchdown catch that extended the Titan lead to 42-0 late in the third quarter.
The potent UW-Oshkosh rushing attack also featured 54 yards on eight carries from JP Peerenboom, 29 yards on five rushes from Kasper, 27 yards on two carries from Riley Kallas and 26 yards on five totes from Chad Walton. Mark Nellen accounted for 17 rushing yards and his first collegiate touchdown on three carries.
Mentkowski led the Titans with four catches for 148 yards, marking his second straight and seventh game in his career with at least 100 yards through the air. Beau Ash and Walton also contributed touchdown receptions.
UW-Oshkosh's Derrick Jennings Jr. collected a team-leading seven tackles, including two sacks. Brady Heimer added a sack among his four tackles while Kollyn Beyer and Cole Yoder notched interceptions for the Titans.
The Titans won their seventh straight meeting with UW-Stevens Point, which boasts a 59-48-8 record in the WIAC's longest rivalry.
Todarello returned the opening kickoff 31 yards ahead of Kasper's scoring strike to Mentkowski just 17 seconds into the game.
Following a three-play, 56-second drive by UW-Stevens Point, the Titans marched 76 yards in seven plays, culminating in Hecker's 3-yard touchdown run.
UW-Stevens Point (3-2, 0-2 WIAC) lost one yard on its next three-play series, and UW-Oshkosh mounted a 17-play, 81-yard drive that chewed up more than eight minutes off the clock before Turner Geisthardt missed a 30-yard field goal attempt into a steady 20-mile-per-hour wind with six seconds to play in the opening period.
The Pointers were held to just four yards in six plays during the first quarter until Cooper Kerner found Jerry Williams on a 46-yard pass on the final play of the period in which UW-Oshkosh possessed the ball for nearly 12 minutes.
Trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter, UW-Stevens Point had a first-and-goal at the UW-Oshkosh 6-yard line. Jennings Jr. then sacked Kerner back at the Titan 13-yard line, and Yoder snared his interception off a tipped pass in the back of the end zone on second down.
UW-Oshkosh capitalized on the turnover by driving 80 yards in six plays, capping the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kasper to Ash, who bowled over a defender on his way to the end zone for a 21-0 Titan lead with 9:18 left in the second quarter.
The Titans then tacked on a 2-yard touchdown run by Hecker and a 5-yard scoring pass from Kasper to Walton for a 35-0 advantage at intermission.
The teams exchanged punts on the first two possessions of the second half before Beyer intercepted a Kerner pass at the UW-Oshkosh 9-yard line and returned the ball to the 22.
UW-Oshkosh once again turned the turnover into points as Kasper hit Todarello on a 20-yard touchdown pass six plays later for a 42-0 cushion at the 3:58 mark of the third quarter.
Nellen then increased the Titan lead to 49-0 on a 12-yard touchdown run with 13:04 to play.
UW-Stevens Point broke up the shutout on Kerner's 5-yard touchdown run, and the Pointers' Jahi Stigall wrapped up the scoring with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone with 4:23 remaining.
Kerner concluded the game 4 of 14 passing for 108 yards with two interceptions while adding 12 carries for 13 yards and a score.
Zack Bosek led the Pointers with 12 rushes for 72 yards, and Stigall registered four carries for 50 yards and one touchdown.
UW-Stevens Point completed just 5 of 16 passes overall as Williams had a team-leading three catches for 93 yards.
The Pointers' Kevin Sanchez led all players with nine tackles, including eight solo.
UW-Oshkosh has won 20 of its last 21 home games.
The Titans play at unbeaten UW-Platteville next Saturday (Oct. 14) in a battle of nationally ranked teams. The Pioneers are currently ranked ninth in the country.