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Warhawks enter critical two-week stretch

The time has arrived for the UW-Whitewater football team to put its stamp on the 2010 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season.

During the next two Saturdays, the No. 1 NCAA Division III football team in the nation will play the two teams tied for second place.

This Saturday, UW-Stevens Point rolls into Perkins Stadium. On Nov. 6, the Warhawks travel to UW-Oshkosh.

Whitewater (4-0 in the WIAC, 7-0 overall) would wrap up its sixth straight WIAC title with victories over the Pointers (3-1, 5-2) and Titans (3-1, 4-3). A win over Stevens Point, and an Oshkosh loss at Eau Claire on Saturday night, also would clinch at least a share of the league title.

Whitewater coach Lance Leipold would go only as far as saying the Point game is "a little bit more important" that the previous four WIAC games the Warhawks have played.

"It's still one game," Leipold said. "But it is an important game."

Leipold said the Pointers are the best team the Warhawks have faced.

The Warhawks will have several incentives besides having the conference championship on the line this week.

The game will be the school's Homecoming/Hall of Fame game, and a big crowd is expected for the 1 p.m. kickoff.

In addition, the Pointers are the last conference team to defeat the Warhawks. That loss happened two seasons ago in the Warhawks' Homecoming/Hall of Fame game. The Pointers scored with 15 seconds left to pull out a 17-16 victory.

Since then, the Warhawks have won 18 straight at Perkins Stadium, including 13 straight in the WIAC.

Leipold doesn't believe the Warhawks will get additional motivation from that loss, but said they should learn a lesson from the game.

"The biggest thing is we didn't finish in that game, and they capitalized on that," Leipold said. "It serves as a reminder that you have to finish plays and finish off drives."

The Warhawks have finished off games since then. They have a 22-game winning streak after beating UW-River Falls, 63-14, last Saturday.

The defending NCAA Division III champions did that without using Levell Coppage, the conference's leading rusher, and Booker Stanley.

Both will be back against the Pointers, as will Antwan Anderson, who rushed for 240 yards with TD runs of 19, 12 and 7 yards against River Falls. In addition, freshman Michael Pirtle took over in the final stages and rushed 15 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns.