Today is Thursday, November 28, 2024
No. 11 Warhawk Football Picks Up Thrilling Win at No. 19 John Carroll
Editor’s note: This was Jace Rindahl’s first game as UW-W’s head coach.
By Angela Kelm
UW-W Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
The No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team opened the 2023 campaign with a thrilling 27-23 comeback win over No. 19 John Carroll in University Heights, Ohio Saturday afternoon.
The Warhawks started the opening drive from their own 25 after a touchback and moved the ball to the John Carroll 38 over the next eight plays. That’s where the drive stalled and UWW turned the ball over on downs.
The Blue Streaks capitalized marching down the field and capping a seven-play drive with a 32-yard passing touchdown to take the early lead. After a missed extra point, JCU led 6-0 at the 9:15 mark. That score held well into the second quarter.
Parker Breunig jumped a passing lane for the interception midway through the second to give the ball back to Alec Ogden and the Warhawk offense. He found Tommy Coates for seven yards on the first play before UWW went to the ground game. The tandem of AlijahMaher-Parr and Tamir Thomas from the backfield drove the Warhawks down to the JCU 11. A 42-yard scamper by Maher-Parr bolstered the drive and helped set up a 28-yard field goal from Jeff Isotalo-McGuire to make it 6-3.
John Carroll responded, using a 50-yard run to open the next drive to set up a touchdown to take a 13-3 lead into the intermission. On the other side of the break, the offenses were on display.
The Warhawks pulled closer with their first drive of the second half. Ogden spread the ball around hitting Drake Martin twice for 13 yards, then Coates for 12, then Nick Wind for 12 before dropping a perfect pass into the hands of Steven Hein for the 37-yard score. Isotalo-McGuire hit the extra point to pull UWW within three, 13-10.
The Blue Streaks pushed the lead back to six, 16-10 with a field goal in the ensuing drive, but the Warhawk offense was clicking and took their first lead in the game in their next possession.
The big play of the drive was a 46-yard rush on 3rd-and-1 from Ogden as he crossed the goal line for the touchdown. Isotalo-McGuire’s extra point gave UWW the lead 17-16 with 6:19 on the clock in the third.
The fourth quarter saw the offenses continue to surge as Isotalo-McGuire hit another field goal, this one from 24 yards out just two plays into the final period to make it 20-16 UWW.
John Carroll put together an extended 10-play scoring drive in their next possession. A short four-yard pass was the one that hit paydirt for the Blue Streaks as JCU reclaimed the lead 23-20 with 8:47 remaining.
The John Carroll defense stiffened and forced a punt after just 1:47 ticked off the clock. The Warhawk defense responded in kind forcing a three-and-out to give the ball back to the offense. The JCU punt went out of bounds at the UWW 15 as the Warhawk offense took over with 4:45 left.
UW-Whitewater put together one of their best drives of the day in their next possession. Ogden found Hein for nine yards to open the drive before Thomas went off the right side of the line for six more and a first down. Coates hauled in an 18-yard catch from Ogden to take the Warhawks near midfield. On 3rd-and-10, the Ogden-Coates connection was clutch again to keep the drive going with a 14-yard strike.
Thomas took the next two carries up the middle for 15 yards. After no gain on the next play, Ogden hit Hein for 11-yards and another first down at the JCU12. Maher-Parr picked up one more yard before Ogden went back to the air.
The first-year Warhawk took the snap out of the shotgun, surveyed and picked Wind as his target drifting deep into the left side of the endzone. The high-arced pass narrowly made it over the outstretched arms of the Blue Streak defensive back as he leapt in an attempt to tip the ball away. Wind had to make an acrobatic catch as he nearly laid out to get his right hand on the ball, tipping it up as he gained footing before hauling in the catch with both hands just inside the pylon at the back of the endzone. The 11-yard strike and extra point gave UWW the 27-23 lead with just 39 seconds remaining.
John Carroll tried to manage the clock after gaining a first down, but Thomas Wojnowski sealed the game for UW-Whitewater with an interception at the JCU 46 with just five ticks of the clock left.
Staying true to the rich tradition of Warhawk football – UWW pounded the rock with 232 rushing yards compared to 175 for JCU. UWW gained 276 through the air for a total of 508 yards of offense.
Maher-Parr was the leading rusher for the Warhawks with 94 yards on 13 attempts. Thomas gained 80 on 15 carries in the game. Ogden was 23-41 for 230 yards and two passing touchdowns without tossing an interception. On the ground, he added 55 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Coates was Ogden’s favorite target with 9 receptions for 77 yards. Hein hauled in six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Hawk Heffner led the Warhawks with eight total tackles. Lucas Sadler, Trey Castella and Roy Panthier all got into the backfield to record tackles for loss while Wojnowski and Breunig led the secondary with a pair of interceptions.
The 2023 Whippet Girls’ Swim season has officially started. The Whippets competed at Conference Relays at Badger on Thursday, August 31. And let us be the first to tell you…these girls sure made a splash!
Georgia Esch, Atreya Wilson, Lucy Davis, and Zoe Zei competed in the 200 Medley where they swam some impressive splits. We are looking forward to them swimming even faster times this season!
We had some new Whippet swimmers compete in their first ever high school swim meet. We were excited to cheer on Adalynn Frye, Payton Peacock, Zoe Zei, and Marijose Verduzco. It was awesome to see them take everything they’ve learned in practice and apply it in a meet!
The Whippets took on the 1000 Freestyle Crescendo with a lineup of Maggie Maas, Charlotte Hajewski, Emerson Dunham, and Makayla Bazeley. They took home some new hardware of a 3rd place finish! The same group placed 2nd in the 100 Backstroke Relay with a time of 4:53.66. Maggie Maas had an impressive split of 1:15.89, and that was with no goggles. Makayla Bazeley’s lead off split was quick enough to put her second all-time on the Whippet Top 10 list!
Two Whippet Relays faced off against one another in the 400 Freestyle Relay. We saw noticeable time improvements from our practice meet to now. Some noticeable splits would include Payton Peacock (23 second drop), Sanibel Fox-Simes (7 second drop), Zoe Zei (21 second drop), Adalynn Frye (22 second drop), and Atreya Wilson (9 second drop).
We are so excited to see what the rest of the season holds for each of our Whippet Swimmers!
Article and Photos Courtesy of Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Head Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org
The Whitewater Volleyball team gritted out a 5-set win against visiting Wilmot (31-33, 25-22, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11). “It was nice to battle out a first home match win. I was pleased we did not quit. Although we had some lapses where we saw too many unforced errors, we recovered and for a young team, that is what I am looking for.”
In scouting Wilmot, we knew what we wanted to do and where to capitalize. “We spent some time in film so we could see what we wanted to do. And, while I think we could have selected some shots better, I felt we did a nice job with our game plan.” Serving continues to be an area we must improve upon; however, we saw more aces tonight with 17 as a team.
Our middles, Emmanuella Mbifi (3 kills, 2 block assists, 1 ace) and Meg Roselle (2 kills, 1 block), are beginning to run a faster offense and are understanding how to work with the setters to connect. “Both Meg and Manny came through with some key plays at the net and blocks. I was excited to see this begin to come together for them.”
Calli Grosinske continues to be a leader for us in her court awareness and shot selection. She posted her first double-double tonight racking up 20 kills, and 14 digs. She also served tougher for us tonight picking up two aces. “Calli is a player we look to lead us. She is beginning to find comfort in this role and leading her team in tough moments.” Marina Linos set a solid match and is picking up her defense. She had 23 assists, 6 digs, and 4 aces. Marina is a selfless player always looking to support her team.
Savannah O’Neil is a serving specialist for us and continues to score points for us with her consistency. Ava Alvarado, defensive specialist, played consistently for us in the backcourt. “Ava is a smart player who is beginning to trust her training and instincts. She is solid in both serve receive and defense.”
Falyn Krahn (9 kills and 5 service aces), Zoe Kohl (2 kills, 2 aces, 14 digs), and Sydney Schilt, put up some nice offense and defense for us. “We count on Zoe and Falyn a ton. Defensively, they are coming through in key moments. Both had some nice digs, aces, and serve receptions. I am always impressed with Zoe’s willingness to go wherever the team needs her! Falyn is playing so consistently for us. She is so fast on defense and makes some aggressive plays. She is smart in the front court, and is beginning to refine her shot selection. Sydney is playing some front row for us, and puts up a solid block and is fast on defense. Sydney is also a solid serve receiver and helps us to run a faster offense.
Ella Spear leads us as the libero and had 3 aces and 19 digs. Ella works so hard in her role and continues to lead her team through her aggressive defense.
I was so proud of our team tonight. We battled through some ups and downs and were able to grit out a win. The Whippets will be back in action next Thursday (9/7) against Delavan-Darien at home for Parents’ Night. JV1 and JV2 will start at 5:00 PM and Varsity at 6:30 PM. Hope to see you there!
Article and Team Photo Submitted by Mary Kilar
Whitewater High School Head Volleyball Coach
mkilar@wwusd.org
Action Photo Courtesy of Peter and Bob Mischka
The Whitewater High School Girls’ Tennis Team started off conference play on Tuesday, August 29, by defeating Jefferson 6-1.
Singles:
- No. 1 – Emilia Houwers defeated Amy Kamenick 6-4 , 6-1
- No. 2 – Jackie Franco defeated Hannah Werning 6-4 , 6-2
- No. 3 – Liz Servin defeated Maryam Perez-Hernandez 6-4 , 6-2
- No. 4 – Vicki Ramirez defeated Ava Geyer 7-6 (8), 3-6 , 11-9
Doubles:
- No. 1 – Maritza Vidales & Stephanie Wence lost to Aeryn Messmann & Breleigh Mengeldef 6-1 , 6-3
- No. 2 – Vanesa Wence & Leah Newmann defeated Piper Crabtree & Vanessa Ganser 6-7 (10), 6-4, 10-7
- No. 3 – Isabel Aranda & Aimee Servin defeated Olivia Miller & Jenifer Vasquez 6-3, 6-3
The team returns to action Friday at 4:15 when they take on out-of-conference opponent Wayland Academy at home.
Article and Photo Submitted by Baron West
Whitewater High School Head Tennis Coach
bwest@wwusd.org
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