• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

UW-Whitewater football team breaks away from Tigers' grasp

Photo Gallery

Warhawks vs Tigers NCAA Div 3 Quarterfinal Football

View Gallery

WHITEWATER — From nearly starting a brawl at midfield before the game to electing to give UW-Whitewater’s football team the ball on the opening kickoff, Wittenberg made it clear it wasn’t about to lay down for the Warhawks.

The Tigers’ swagger, not displayed by many opponents at Perkins Stadium, had the hometown crowd on edge for nearly three quarters before the Warhawks unloaded 17 unanswered points to knock out Wittenberg, 31-13, in an NCAA Division III quarterfinal game here Saturday afternoon.

With the emotional victory, second-ranked Whitewater (13-0) advanced to a semifinal game against Linfield (Ore.) here at noon next Saturday. Linfield (12-0) defeated St. Thomas, 31-20, in another quarterfinal game.

Meanwhile, Whitewater coach Lance Leipold was just happy to survive the challenge from the gritty Tigers from Springfield, Ohio, who fell to 12-1.

“Our backs were to the wall quite a bit,” Leipold said. “And I’m real pleased with the way we responded.”

Wittenberg’s surprisingly efficient ball-control offense had Whitewater’s defense against a wall in the first half.

After Aaron Rusch’s 23-yard touchdown catch gave the Warhawks a 7-0 lead in the first minute of the second quarter, Wittenberg answered with an 8-play, 82-yard scoring drive. Quarterback Aaron Huffman’s 2-yard touchdown run pulled the Tigers within 7-6 with 10:26 left in the first half.

The Warhawks quickly made it 14-6 on an Antwan Anderson 7-yard touchdown run with 8:26 left in the quarter.

But the Tigers answered again on the ensuing possession, although at the cost of their starting quarterback.

After Wittenberg pushed the ball to the Warhawk 8, Huffman was knocked out of the game by a solid hit from Warhawk linebacker Lane Olson.

“It was a strike blitz where two linebackers were coming off the edge,” Olson recalled. “He (Huffman) tried tucking and running, and we both just hit him. I got up, and he was as stiff was a board, and his eyes rolled back.”

Huffman, who had completed 11 of 12 passes for 139 yards, didn’t return to the game.

But the big hit didn’t immediately slow down the Tiger offense. On the next play, backup quarterback Ben Zoeller hit Michael Cooper on an 11-yard touchdown pass to pull Wittenberg within 14-13 with 30 seconds left in the half.

“What you really saw in the first half is that when two teams are executing pretty well, there are a limited number of possessions,” Leipold said. “And the limited number of possessions really shortened that game up and really forced people to execute.”

Whitewater finally executed against the nation’s top-ranked defense late in the third quarter on Jeff Donovan’s pinpoint, 28-yard touchdown pass to Adam Brandes in the left corner of the end zone. That put the Warhawks up 21-13 with 2:49 left in the quarter.

Wittenberg failed to answer from there and gave up 10 fourth-quarter points on a Jeff Schebler 35-yard field goal and a Levell Coppage 4-yard touchdown run that put Whitewater comfortably ahead at 31-13.

“We didn’t come up here to lay down,” Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham said. “We came up here to compete, and I’m proud of the way our guys competed.

“It got away from us at the end, no doubt, but field position was a big deal of it in the second half.”

The Tigers’ swagger simply wasn’t enough in the end.

WHITEWATER 31, WITTENBERG 13

TEAM STATISTICS

Wit Whi

First downs 19 22

Rushes-yards 31-21 39-161

Yards passing 261 236

Passes 24-35-1 18-25-1

Punts-avg. 5-38.4 2-32

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 2-12 5-54

Time of poss. 31:38 28:22

SCORING SUMMARY

Wittenberg 0 13 0 0—13

UW-Whitewater 0 14 7 10—31

Second Quarter

Whi—Aaron Rusch, 23 pass from Jeff Donovan (Jeff Schebler kick), 14:17. Wit—Aaron Huffman, 2 run (kick failed), 10:26. Whi—Antwan Anderson, 7 run (Schebler kick), 8:29. Wit—Michael Cooper, 11 pass from Ben Zoeller (Zack Harris kick), :32.

Third Quarter

Whi—Adam Brandes, 28 pass from Donovan (Schebler kick), 7:49.

Fourth Quarter

Whi—FG, Schebler, 35, 5:48. Whi—Coppage, 4 run (Schebler kick), 3:35.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Wittenberg: Corey Weber 15-36, Conner Warye 5-12, Aaron Huffman 8-0, Ben Zoeller 3/-27. Whitewater: Levell Coppage 25-123, Antwan Anderson 8-35, Aaron Rusch 1-8, Matt Blanchard 2/-1, Jeff Donovan 3-/-4.

PASSING—Wittenberg: Ben Zoeller 13-23-1-122, Aaron Huffman 11-12-0-139, Whitewater: Jeff Donovan 18-25-1, 236.

RECEIVING—Wittenberg: Josh McKee 10-100, Michael Cooper 6-69, P. Williams 5-58, Corey Weber 2-26, Conner Warye 1-8. Whitewater: Aaron Rusch 7-92, Adam Brandes 4-64, Cory Robinson 4-43, Davd Leaf 2-11, Jordan Wells 1-26.

Attendance—2,021.