By Chris Lindeke, Assistant Athletic Director, Strategic Communications and Branding, UW-W

No. 3 Warhawk Football Downed in NCAA Semifinals

Game Statistics: https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uwwsports.com/documents/2021/12/11/28466.pdf

The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team fell behind by double digits in the first half Saturday and was unable to cut into the deficit in a 24-7 setback against No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in a semifinal of the NCAA Division III Playoffs at Perkins Stadium.

The Warhawks (13-1 overall), who were playing in their 13th semifinal round in the last 16 years, conclude the season following their 38th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and 17th appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

The Crusaders (14-0) totaled 309 yards through the air and held the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the fourth quarter to maintain their lead.

UW-Whitewater was held to 64 yards rushing and 271 yards of offense, and was limited to 5-of-15 conversions on third down.

Max Meylor finished 23-of-32 passing for 207 yards and one touchdown. Tyler Holte caught six passes for 91 yards and one touchdown, and Alex Peete rushed for 43 yards and tallied 38 yards receiving.

Mark McGrath led the defense with 10 tackles, while Shane McGrail finished with eight stops, including 1.5 for a loss. Thomas Wojnowski and Kyle Koelblinger collected seven tackles apiece.

After a scoreless first quarter, Mary Hardin-Baylor completed a 14-play, 82-yard drive in the end zone to take a 7-0 advantage with 13:00 on the clock.

After a UW-W turnover, the Crusaders scored another touchdown with 9:46 on the clock to double their advantage.

Following a UMHB field goal, the Warhawks drove 80 yards in 12 plays as Meylor hit Holte over the middle for a 9-yard score with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter.

Mary Hardin-Baylor scored on its first drive of the third quarter, punching it in on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line for a 24-7 advantage with 6:31 to play in the period.

UW-Whitewater was unable to get back in the scoring column the rest of the way.

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By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

December 11, 2021

Those who said that the outcome of the NCAA D III semifinal game would boil down to whether the #3 Warhawks could defend against # 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor’s passing prowess unfortunately “called it.” UW-W lost 24-7 to Mary Hardin-Baylor (MH-B) on December 11, with MH-B dominating on passing. It would have been 24-10 if the nearly-always reliable Matt Maldonado hadn’t had a missed field goal which commentators surmised was caused by wind. The championship game on December 17 in Canton, OH will feature defending champion North Central vs. MH-B. North Central beat UW-W by 41-14 in 2019; the 2020 game was canceled due to COVID-19. Attendance was 2519, compared with 1400 last week.

	UW-W	MH-B
Pass	207	309
Rush	64	69
Total	271	377

Here’s the link to a comprehensive article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, assuming you don’t hit a paywall.