MENOMONIE (November 12, 2016) - For a while it looked the top two teams in the country were going to go down to defeat but second ranked UW-Whitewater fended off a solid UW-Stout effort with a 34-16 win at Don and Nona Williams Stadium Saturday.
Top-ranked Mount Union fell to John Carroll and the Blue Devils held a 16-10 halftime lead. The twitter-sphere was buzzing for a short while about when the last time Mount Union and Whitewater lost on the same day.
The Warhawks scored first on Cam Maly's 29-yard first down run.
But the Blue Devils answered back with a Drew Pearson 37 yard field goal. On the drive, quarterback Jay Alston accounted for much of the yardage to set up Pearson. Alston had runs of 7-, 13-, and 3-yards and completed a 20 yard pass to Brian Sandifer to the Warhawks' 23 and the Blue Devils were on the board, 10-3.
The Warhawks got a 35-yard field goal from Will Meyer on the next drive to extend their lead to 10-3 at 3:33 of the first. Alston was intercepted on the next drive, but the Warhawks could not convert, missing a 22-yard field goal. The Warhawks stopped Stout on the ensuing drive in the second quarter. Punter Clark Riedel booted a 56 yards punt to the Whitewater 28. The returner fumbled the ball, but Whitewater recovered with an eight yard loss.
The teams traded drives, but on Riedel's 36 yard punt, the returner again fumbled and this time Stout's Jason Dilly recovered at the Whtiewater 30 to give Stout a new set of downs. The Blue Devils turned the turnover into points when Alston hit Sandifer for a 27-yard score and the game was tied at 10-10.
Stout took the lead when linebacker Nick Schulenberg intercepted Whitewater quarterback Cole Wilber and returned the ball to the Whitewater 36. Alston moved the Blue Devils to the Whitewater 12 and Pearson gave Stout a 13-10 lead with a 29 yard field goal.
The Stout defense stopped the Warhawks on the following drive and a 24-yard rush by Adolfo Pacheco keyed a 44 yard drive and Pearson extended the lead to 16-10 on another 29 yard field goal with 1:34 left in the period.
Stout had one more opportunity to score after Javauhn Staley intercepted a pass at the Stout 49, setting up Pearson for what would be a school record 56-yard field goal. But the kick was low, blocked by Whitewater, which recovered the ball, only to fumble it back to Stout at the Stout 37 with two seconds left.
Whitewater would take the lead early in the third quarter - but it wouldn't be without a loss. Quarterback Cole Wilber was knocked out of the game on a sack by Schulenberg. Alston was intercepted on the next drive when his pass bounced off his receiver into the hands of Mickey Morgan at the Stout 32. Whitewater used Cam Maly for five of the seven plays in the drive, including a two yard run to paydirt. The Warhawks held a 17-16 lead and would not trail the rest of the way.
Whitewater added another score, this time Maly running all four plays, including a fourth down, 26-yard run to daylight and a 24-16 score.
Meyer gave Whitewater a 27-16, two score lead at 6:02 and the Warhawks took advantage of a late Stout fumble, eventually turning the loose ball into a score with 2:30 remaining.
Maly led all rushers with 165 yards on 36 carries and three TDs for the Warhawks, who gained 186 rushing yards and 384 total yards. Wilber was 10-of-19 for 146 yards with no TDs and two interceptions before leaving the game. Chris Nelson came on to complete 8-of-11 passes for 52 yards.
The Blue Devils finished with 227 yards of offense. Sandifer pulled in eight catches for 101 yards. Alston was 8-of-29 for 101 yards and a score, but was intercepted three times. Pacheco carried the ball 11 times for 58 yards.
The Warhawks will compete in the NCAA Division III Football Championship starting Saturday, Nov. 19 and will likely be the top seed in the tournament after Mount Union's loss.
Blue Devils hold halftime lead, Whitewater comes back in second
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161112_qhen.xml
2016
UW-Whitewater
34
UW-Stout
16
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 UW-Whitewater (10-0) | 10 | 0 | 14 | 10 | 34 |
| UW-Stout (3-7) | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Nov 12, 2016