Purple powers: Record crowd, odd win
| UW-Whitewater drew a conference-record 12,189 fans
at home for its Family Day game with UW-Stout. UW-Whitewater athletics photo |
No. 1 UW-Whitewater played before a WIAC-record crowd and won handily, while No. 2 Mount Union struggled but won at Marietta.
The Purple Raiders lost wide receiver Cecil Shorts for the game and turned the ball over four times but still had enough to beat Marietta 28-14.
UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Stout 30-7 Saturday before a
UW-Whitewater and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
record crowd of 12,189 at Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin,
running the longest win streak in National Collegiate Athletic
Association football, all NCAA football, to twenty consecutive
wins.
Stout began the game with a long possession, starting at its
27-yard line and going 17 plays before hitting the upright with a
field goal attempt. Whitewater finally solved the Stout defense,
ranked 14th in total defense in the NCAA Division III statistics,
midway through the second quarter. An exchange gave UW-W
field position at the Stout 49 and, despite two holding penalties
against the Warhawks, junior quarterback Matt Blanchard went
4-for-4 on a drive that ended with his two yard scoring pass to
Aaron Rusch at 9:40.
The score marked the longest UW-W has gone without a touchdown to
start a game since Oct. 24, 2009 when Levell Coppage scored with
6:44 left in the second quarter in Whitewater's win over UW-River
Falls.
Stout responded on its next drive, covering 69 yards on 15 plays,
and eating up 7:09 on the clock. Facing first and goal from
the 1, Stout quartrback Ross Carey attempted a sneak, fumbled the
ball, but offensive tackle Tyler Butzler recovered it in the end
zone to tie the game with 2:25 left in the half.
Taking over at their 20 after a kickoff, UW-W covered 75 yards in
14 plays to salvage a 22 yard field goal by Eric Kindler with seven
seconds left to send the Warhawks into the locker room leading
10-7.
Whitewater took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 80
yards on 11 plays to take a 16-7 lead after the extra point
failed. The scoring play was a Blanchard to Rusch 24-yard
reception as UW-W faced a third-and-16.
Stout went three and out, and Whitewater was stopped at their own
48. Kris Rosholt punted for the Warhawks, downing the ball at
the 1 on a 51-yard punt, his second punt of the day downed at the
one.
UW-W's defense held, and after the exchange the Warhawk offense
needed just six plays to make it 23-7. Coppage, the all-time
rushing scoring leader in UW-W and WIAC history, sprinted 31 yards
for the score with 2:55 left in the third.
The Warhawk defense stymied Stout with two sacks on the next
series, giving the ball back to UW-W's defense on the Blue Devil
40. A holding penalty set Whitewater back, but Coppage raced 46
yards on the second play before getting tripped up at the
four. Two plays later Coppage made it 30-7 with 1:42 left in
the third.
No. 2 ranked Mount Union got a career-best 170 yards rushing
from sophomore running back Jeremy Murray and 147 yards receiving
from sophomore receiver Jasper Collins as the Purple Raiders won
their 48th consecutive regular season game with a 28-14 Ohio
Athletic Conference victory at Marietta.
Another sophomore in Raider quarterback Neal Seaman had his second
career 300 yard passing game with 331 yards and a touchdown as he
directed an offense that had 495 yards but also had three fumbles
all in Marietta territory in the second half.
Cecil Shorts was held without a reception for the first time since 2008 after leaving the game early with an injury.
The Mount Union defense held the Pioneers to 19 yards rushing
and 226 total yards. The Raiders knocked out two Marietta
quarterbacks with six sacks, an interception and two forced
fumbles.
Senior defensive end Lambert Budzinski had 12 tackles, a forced
fumble and a season-best 3.0 sacks.
Seaman tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Kyle
Miller on the Raiders first possession of the game.
On the very next drive, aided by a pair of 15-yard Mount Union
penalties, Marietta tied the game on a seven-yard touchdown run by
starting quarterback Andrew Keller.
Murray would run in scores from 6 and 5 yards in the second quarter
and the clock ran out on the Raiders on the Marietta 1-yard line to
prevent another score, but they took a 21-7 lead into the half.
A scoreless third quarter featured two Mount Union fumbles and a
fumble on a return of a short punt that all happened inside the
Marietta 35-yard line.
Murray would find the end zone again from 7 yards out midway
through the fourth quarter to put the Raiders up 28-7, before third
string Marietta quarterback Tom Fulton hit Cory Kriechbaum on a
19-yard touchdown pass for the 28-14 final.
