By Angela Kelm
Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team topped No. 19 UW-Oshkosh 17-3 in front of a record crowd of 18,951 fans. The audience broke the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record and breaks the old Perkins Stadium mark previously set in a game against Oshkosh during Family Fest.
The Warhawks opened the scoring in their second drive of the game. Preston Strasburg capped the 11-play, 59-yard run, punching it in from two-yards out. Jeffery Isotalo-McGuire added the extra point for a 7-0 UW-W lead with 5:41 on the clock.
UW-Whitewater added three more on their next drive that extended into the second quarter. Jaylon Edmonson opened the drive weaving through traffic for a 35-yard scamper up the middle. Isotalo-McGuire made it 10-0 capping the drive on the second play of the second quarter with a 27-yard field goal.
The defenses came up with some big plays the rest of the quarter. Kyle Koelblinger registered the highlight. The Warhawk defense chased the Titan quarterback out of the pocket. He heaved the ball deep with Koelblinger and the UW-O receiver both going up for the jump ball. It was Koelblinger coming down with it for the interception.
Following a three-and-out in their offensive possession, the Warhawks got the ball right back, jumping on a muffed punt with Zach Sherman on the recovery at the Oshkosh 45. The Titan offense responded with a pick off in the end zone later in the drive to take over at their 20 with 40 seconds remaining. The UW-W defense held to go into the intermission with the 10-0 advantage.
UW-W forced a punt on Oshkosh’s first drive of the second half and Tyler Holte gave the Warhawks great field position with a 31-yard return to the UW-O 43. Strasburg registered his second touchdown run of the night bouncing it up the middle from nine yards out. The kick made it 17-0 Whitewater with 8:08 left in the third.
The Titans got on the board with a field goal with 8:25 in the fourth capping an 11-play, 41-yard drive.
Holte came up big in the fourth with his longest reception of the season, 59-yard grab that gave the Warhawks first down at the UW-O 14. The play setup the Warhawks for a scoring opportunity but they were unable to capitalize.
The defense held the rest of the way for the 17-3 final.
Edmonson bolstered the run game with 107 of the team’s 165 yards on the ground. Defensively, linebackers Ryan Liszka and Egon Hein combined for 19 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.
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