The UW Oshkosh football team had a homecoming victory against the UW-Platteville Pioneers on Saturday, Oct. 29 by a score of 22-13 putting the Titans in second place in conference with an overall record of 6-1 and a conference record of 3-1.

Titans quarterback Brett Kasper said this week’s performance has the players feeling much more confident in their victory than the previous victory two weeks ago at UW-Stevens Point.

“I think we finally came out and played two halves of football,” Kasper said. “Obviously it wasn’t a perfect game, perfect is hard to achieve, but it was good to see us play two halves of football.”

The Titans got the ball to start the game on their own 21-yard line and had a drive that went for 71 yards and resulted in a 21-yard field goal from kicker Eli Wettstein with 9:20 into the game putting the Titans up 3-0.

After starting on their own 25-yard line, the Pioneers were able to take the ball 51 yards to the Titans’ 24 where kicker Samuel Herkert made a 41-yard field goal to tie the game at three with 4:50 to play in the first quarter.

After a few empty possessions from both teams, the Pioneers were able to take the lead.

Starting on their own 25 yard line, the Pioneers took the ball to the Titans’ 11 where the Titans’ defense was able to hold them to three points after a 28-yard field goal from Herkert to give Platteville a 6-3 lead.

Herkert’s kickoff went 57 yards to the Titans’ 8-yard line where Titans’ wide receiver CJ Blackburn caught the ball and was able to return it 39 yards to their 47-yard line.

After seven plays and 40 yards, Wettstein was able to make a 30-yard field goal to tie the game at six.

After an empty possession from the Pioneers to start the second half, the Titans got the ball on their own 8-yard line to start their first possession of the second half.

After 14 plays and 73 yards, the Titans managed to retake the lead with a 37-yard field goal from Wettstein to give the Titans the lead back 9-6 with 5:43 left in the third.

The Titans defense was able to stop the Pioneers from scoring the first touchdown of the game after the Pioneers were able to bring the ball 59 yard to the Titans’ 6-yard line.

The Pioneers were forced to attempt a field goal, but Herkert missed wide left keeping the score 9-6 with 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Titans got the ball on their own 20-yard line and ran one play for 6 yards before the quarter came to an end.

The drive for the Titans continued into the fourth quarter on their own 26-yard line.

UWO ran six plays including a 26-yard completion from Kasper to wide receiver Dom Todarello and a 33-yard completion from Kasper to wide receiver Chad Redmer that brought the Titans to the Platteville 1-yard line.

A 1-yard run from running back Dylan Hecker gave the Titans their first touchdown of the game and after a failed extra point from Wettstein, the Titans led 15-6 with 13:04 left in the game.

Starting on their own 35-yard line, the Pioneers were able to move the ball 65 yards to score a touchdown from a 7-yard pass from quarterback Tom Kelly to wide receiver Mitch Munda to cut the Titans’ lead to 15-13.

The Pioneers’ kickoff went 57-yards to the Titans 8-yard line, but another long return from Blackburn for 30 yards meant the Titans were able to start their drive from their own 38.

A 43-yard rush from Devon Linzenmeyer brought the Titans to the Platteville 19 and after a 19-yard rush from Hecker and the made extra point, the Titans extended their lead to the eventual final score of 22-13.

Blackburn said they have had a lingering feeling of not playing an entire game to their full potential considering the offense was only able to score one touchdown throughout the previous win against Stevens Point, but they were able to respond in a big way.

“Moving forward now we know what our offense can do again against a great team,” Blackburn said. “It gives us a lot of confidence going into the next game.”

Head coach Pat Cerroni said the team took a big confidence blow after the Whitewater loss, but win by win their confidence is growing.

“We just need a couple more weeks here to practice and gain some confidence and feel good about ourselves,” Cerroni said. “That’s really what we’re focused on.”

The Titans continue conference play on Sat., Oct. 29 at UW-River Falls. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m.