Three Award Winners Highlight Titans' All-WIAC Football Selections
Coach of the Year Pat Cerroni, Special Teams Player of the Year Jaydon Haag and Newcomer of the Year Kobe Berghammer highlight league co-champion UW-Oshkosh's 17 mentions on the 2019 All-WIAC Football Team.
Cerroni led the Titans to a share of the WIAC title and a trip to the NCAA Division III Championship despite the program being projected to finish third in the conference standings in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Cerroni earned the WIAC's George Chryst Coach of the Year award for the fourth time in the past eight seasons after guiding the team to an 8-2 record, including a 6-1 mark in league play en route to sharing the program's 11th conference title with UW-Whitewater.
Haag, a sophomore kicker and punter, became the third Titan to garner WIAC Special Teams Player of the Year honors since the award debuted in 2014 while freshman quarterback Berghammer is the first recipient of the WIAC's Newcomer of the Year award.
UW-La Crosse senior wide receiver Cole Spieker and UW-Whitewater junior defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi were tabbed the league's Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.
The 14-member All-WIAC First Team Offense included UW-Oshkosh junior tight end Justin Kasuboski, junior center Mike Olsen and senior offensive lineman Alex Wipperfurth.
UW-Oshkosh was represented on the 13-member All-WIAC First Team Defense by senior defensive lineman Brady Heimer and junior linebacker Nick Noethe.
Titans senior long snapper Mitchell Berghs joined Haag on the WIAC First Team as a special teams player.
UW-Oshkosh junior defensive back Kollyn Beyer, sophomore defensive lineman Brandon Kolgen and junior defensive lineman Trenton LaCombe were each selected to the All-WIAC Second Team Defense.
Rounding out the Titans' all-conference laurels were honorable mention picks in senior wide receiver Riley Kallas on offense as well as junior defensive lineman Brandon Hughes, junior linebacker Logan Heise, sophomore linebacker Tory Jandrin and senior defensive back Calvin Shilling on defense.
The productive and balanced UW-Oshkosh defense, which paces the conference by allowing just 287.3 yards per game, received a league-high nine All-WIAC selections among the 43 total defensive players honored. The Titan defense also leads the WIAC by yielding 174.5 passing yards per game, 158 first downs and a 103.4 opponent passing efficiency rating.
Heimer (2017 Second Team) and Kallas (2018 Honorable Mention) both received their second all-conference citations. Each of the other 14 Titans were named All-WIAC for the first time.
Cerroni, the winningest coach in program history, won his 100th career game with a 31-3 victory at UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 19 and boasts a 103-41 record during his 13 seasons at the helm of the Titans. The first coach to lead UW-Oshkosh to nine straight winning seasons in the 125-year history of the program, Cerroni and the Titans will be making their fifth overall appearance in the national tournament – all under Cerroni – when they travel to Central College for the first round Saturday (Nov. 23) in Pella, Iowa.
Cerroni previously coached UW-Oshkosh to the Division III title game in 2016, the national semifinals in both 2012 and 2017, and the quarterfinals in 2015. Cerroni, who sports a 12-4 record in the NCAA postseason, was also named WIAC Coach of the Year in 2012, 2015 and 2017.
Haag currently co-leads Division III with a 1.000 field goal percentage, connecting on each of his 11 attempts on the season after assuming Titan field goal kicking duties in the fourth game of the season. Haag, who has converted 23 of 26 extra points, has scored a team-high 56 points on the year. His string of 11 consecutive made field goals began with a 33-yarder in a win at UW-Stout on Oct. 5 and continued with boots of 42 and a season-long 49 yards during UW-Oshkosh's fourth-quarter comeback victory by a 27-20 against UW-Whitewater in the regular season finale last Saturday (Nov. 16).
Haag joins former Titan kicker and punter Nate Ray (2014) and all-purpose player Dom Todarello (2017) in receiving WIAC Special Teams Player of the Year honors.
Berghammer was tabbed the inaugural WIAC newcomer of the Year after taking over the UW-Oshkosh starting quarterback role in the third game of his freshman campaign. The Titans have gone 7-1 in Berghammer's eight starts on the year.
Berghammer emerged as the Titans' leading passer and rusher this season, completing 119 of 245 passes for 1,521 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions while rushing 115 times for 592 yards and eight scores. He went 20-for-22 passing for 226 yards with a season-high three touchdowns in his first start against Huntingdon College (Ala.) on Sept. 21. Berghammer has since topped 100 rushing yards on three occasions, including a 102-yard effort with three scores on the ground during a win at UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 19 before gaining a season-best 177 yards rushing with a pair of touchdowns in a win over UW-River Falls on Nov. 9.
Kasuboski, Olsen and Wipperfurth have anchored a UW-Oshkosh offensive line that has helped the Titans to lead the conference with 4.7 yards per carry and 13 sacks allowed while ranking second in the league with 183.4 rushing yards per game. Kasuboski, who is third on the team with 18 receptions for 223 yards, hauled in a 49-yard touchdown catch at Salisbury University (Md.) on Sept. 14 and collected a season-high four receptions for 44 yards against UW-Eau Claire.
Heimer ranks fifth in the conference with a team-leading seven sacks among his 32 tackles on the year. Heimer recorded 2.5 sacks during UW-Oshkosh's season-opening win over Carthage College on Sept. 7 before adding 1.5 sacks against Huntingdon College and a season-high seven tackles, including another 1.5 sacks, versus UW-Eau Claire.
Noethe is the Titans' team leader with 59 total tackles and 43 solo stops this season. Noethe, who has also contributed three sacks and one interception on the year, made a season-best 12 tackles against UW-Stevens Point on Oct 12, 10 stops at UW-La Crosse on Oct. 26 and nine tackles at Salisbury University. He registered a pair of sacks at UW-Platteville on Nov. 2 and snagged an interception during the WIAC title-clinching win over UW-Whitewater.
Beyer is tied for the WIAC lead with five interceptions and 19 passes defensed while ranking second on the team with 38 solo tackles among his 47 total stops this season. Beyer, who has accounted for one of UW-Oshkosh's four fumble recoveries, recorded a pair of interceptions against both UW-La Crosse and UW-River Falls, and one against UW-Whitewater. He amassed a season-high five pass breakups against UW-Stevens Point.
Kolgen and LaCombe have combined for 23.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks on the year. Kolgen's 13 tackles for loss ranks fourth in the conference while LaCombe is ninth in the league with six sacks. Kolgen notched season bests of three tackles for loss at UW-Platteville and 1.5 sacks among seven tackles against UW-Whitewater. LaCombe had a season-high eight tackles, including 4.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, against Carthage College and a pair of sacks against UW-Eau Claire.
Kallas, who paces the conference by averaging 7.4 yards per punt return, has scored five total touchdowns this season. He is second on the squad with 22 catches for 317 yards and a team-leading three scores through the air while also rushing 14 times for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Kallas had a season-best five catches for 60 yards at UW-La Crosse and four grabs for a season-high 73 yards and one score against UW-Stevens Point.
Heise and Jandrin have made 49 and 47 tackles, respectively, this season. Shilling has recorded 41 stops and Hughes follows with 39 tackles, including a pair of sacks.
Heise, who has two interceptions on the year, registered a season-best seven tackles on three occasions and returned an interception for a touchdown against UW-Stevens Point.
Jandrin collected a season-high seven tackles against UW-Whitewater, Hughes made a season-best six stops against both UW-Stout and UW-Whitewater, and Shilling produced a season-best 10 tackles, including five solo and 1.5 for loss, at Salisbury University.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater (9-1) shared the WIAC title with 6-1 records while UW-La Crosse (7-3) finished third at 5-2. Completing the conference standings were UW-Platteville (7-3) in fourth at 4-3, UW-Stout (4-6) fifth at 3-4, UW-Stevens Point (3-7) sixth at 2-5, and UW-Eau Claire (3-7) and UW-River Falls (2-8) seventh at 1-6.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked 18th in the country by D3football.com, and seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater will represent the WIAC at the 32-team Division III Championship. The Titans earned the league's automatic berth into the tournament by virtue of their 27-20 win over UW-Whitewater last Saturday. The Warhawks received one of five at-large berths into the NCAA postseason.