By Angela Kelm
Asst. Athletic Director for Sports Information
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team defeated Wheaton College 49-42 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs Saturday at Perkins Stadium. The Warhawks advance to face Wartburg in the quarterfinals Saturday, December 2 – location of the game has yet to be announced by the NCAA.
Box Score
UW-Whitewater will compete in the quarterfinals for the 14th time since 2005 — the Warhawks are 13-1 in quarterfinal games in that span. Wartburg advanced with a 42-20 win over Whitworth Saturday. The other three quarterfinal matchups feature North Central and UW-La Crosse, Alma and Cortland and Johns Hopkins and Randolph-Macon.
Editor’s note: Virtually all of the crowd stayed through the entire cold game. At kickoff the temperature was 28 degrees with a cloudy sky and southwest winds at 6 mph.
Saturday’s game at Perkins Stadium was a back-and-forth affair that ended with a number of career highs for Warhawks in all facets of the game. Offensively, Tommy Coates had a phenomenal outing with a career-best 169 yards bolstered by a career long 56-yard reception. Quarterback Alec Ogden registered four passing touchdowns, matching his career high, for the second straight week. Tamir Thomas posted career highs in rushing attempts (28), rushing yards (224) and receiving touchdowns (2).
Defensively, Ethan Gallagher improved his career high for tackles in a game to nine. In special teams play, Kamrin Hutt added a career-long 57-yard punt in the contest.
It all started on the Warhawks’ first drive of the game. Similar to last week, UWW got on the board early. This time, Thomas capitalized on the good field position after a short Wheaton punt with a 56-yard run on the second play of the game for the Warhawk offense. Jeff Isotalo-McGuire split the uprights and the scoreboard read 7-0 in favor of UWW less than three minutes into the game.
The Thunder responded with a 13-play, 73-yard touchdown drive as Wheaton punched it in from a yard out to knot the game 7-7.
UW-Whitewater marched down the field on the next drive as Thomas had a pair of big plays to open the possession. He registered an 11-yard scamper on the first play and hauled in a 29-yard catch to set up UWW at the Wheaton 29. A couple of 13-yard gains on a Coates reception and Alijah Maher-Parr run had the Warhawks enjoying first and goal from the two. Ogden crossed the line with a big push from the offensive line for a 14-7 UWW lead.
Wheaton continued the scoring flurry with a 55-yard touchdown pass to tie the game once again before the end of the quarter. The Thunder owned the second quarter adding two more scores while the Wheaton defense held the Warhawks off the board. WC scored on a 44-yard and 18-yard receptions to take a 28-14 lead at the intermission.
UW-Whitewater came out of the locker room determined. The Warhawks needed just four plays to narrow the gap with Ogden hitting Coates for a 50-yard score on the first drive.
The UWW defense held, and Mason Stepanski burst around the end of the line to block the punt on fourth-and-nine. The kick caromed out of bounds just four yards from the line of scrimmage after Stepanski got a piece of it to bring the Warhawk offense back out at the UWW 43. The Thunder defense held forcing a three-and-out, but the Warhawk coaching staff had a nifty play call on fourth. The punt team initially lined up but sprinted off the field as the offense came on forcing the Thunder to call a timeout early in the half. Hutt came on to punt after the brief break in play and his 29-yard punt hit the back of a Thunder special teams player. Karsten Libby jumped on the live ball and out came the Warhawk offense with fantastic field possession at the Wheaton 23.
This time, UW-Whitewater capitalized as Ogden hit Tyler Vasey for 14 yards. Thomas took the handoff up the middle for five yards before hauling in a dart from Ogden from the four-yard line to tie the game 28-28.
A pair of punts wrapped up the third quarter, but the Warhawks added on the first play of the fourth. Ogden dropped back and went deep down the middle hitting Coates in stride as two defenders upended each other leaving Coates with a wide-open view of the endzone. The 56-yard touchdown gave UWW a 35-28 lead.
The Thunder responded with a huge 48-yard run off the right side of the line to open their next drive. A few plays later, Wheaton receiver Ben Bonga made a great diving catch in the endzone from 14-yards out to even the game, 35-35, with 12:27 to go.
UWW went 65-yards in 10 plays to reclaim the lead as Thomas tallied his second receiving touchdown of the game, this one from six yards out. Egon Hein brought the offense right back onto the field with an interception on Wheaton’s next play. His 20-yard return set up UWW at the Wheaton 20. The handoff went to Thomas and he burst through the line and up the middle for a 20-yard score on the very next play to give UW-Whitewater a two-touchdown lead, 49-35.
Wheaton did not fold – marching 67-yards on 10 plays to pull within seven with less than four minutes left.
The Warhawks top hands crew went out for the probably onside kick. The call was right and Vasey reined in the bouncing kick at the Wheaton 47-yard line. A few plays later, facing third-and-four, a facemask penalty on Wheaton extended the Warhawk drive. UWW ended up turning the ball over on downs despite a personal foul call on the fourth down play giving Wheaton 21 seconds to drive 96 yards.
On the first play, a short completion was followed by a series of laterals for a 41-yard gain leaving enough time for one last play. Gallagher broke up the deep ball to seal the win.
Ogden was 15-25 for 239 yards and four passing touchdowns. He added 73 rushing yards and another touchdown. Coates led the receiving corps with 169 yards on eight catches including a pair of scores. Thomas averaged eight-yards a carry with 224 on 28 attempts.
Joey Antonietti led the defense with 11 tackles. Cole Yocum had UWW’s lone sack of the day. Gallagher ended up with three passes broken up and a quarterback hurry to go along with nine tackles.
