The UW Oshkosh Titans football team improved its record to 4-0 after winning their sixth straight homecoming game 49-14 against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers. The Titans now sit in a three-way tie for first in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and are ranked third by d3fb.com.
With the homecoming win, Titans head coach Pat Cerroni says in the bigger picture the team is playing with a real sense of pride and community.
“I think we have a special thing going,” Cerroni said. “I think we are pretty focused and I think that we have a great sideline where guys are really into it. To have a team like that, you have to be proud of that.”
In the Titans victory, they got off to a fast start by scoring their first touchdown of the game on their first play of the game.
After receiving the ball to start the game on their own 36-yard-line, senior quarterback Brett Kasper connected to senior wide receiver Sam Mentkowski for a 64-yard touchdown. With 17 seconds off the clock, the Titans were up 7-0 on the Pointers and had set the pace for the rest of the game.
This was Kasper’s third straight game throwing for at least three touchdowns and at least 200 yards. Kasper said he feels like he is improving every game.
“I think it’s just another year of eligibility and of experience,” Kasper said. “The game just slows down so much more. With this being the fourth time I’ve played some of these teams and a lot of teams have been running a lot of the same stuff the last four years. Just from that standpoint and having the guys around me with experience too makes it easier on me. It was also nice to get the homecoming win for the school and the fans that showed up.”
The Pointers first drive of the game resulted in a quick three-and-out that did not even total one minute.
The Pointers’ punt put the Titans on their own 24-yard-line and despite having to go 76 yards to score, the Titans did just that.
In a drive that consisted of a 23-yard rush from the Titans leading rusher of the game, junior wide receiver Dom Todarello, Kasper connected to senior wide receiver Chad Redmer for 33 yards to the UWSP 3-yard-line.
Kasper’s pass set up senior running back Dylan Hecker’s 3-yard-rush for the second Titans’ touchdown of the game and Hecker’s 50th touchdown as a Titan. He sits as the all-time leading scorer of the Titans football program.
With 11:14 remaining in the first quarter, Oshkosh was up 14-0.
The remainder of the first half went scoreless and was mostly taken up by the Titans’ 8:24 drive that resulted in a missed 30-yard field goal attempt from junior kicker Turner Geisthardt.
The Pointers got the ball to start the second half in a drive where they were able to get their first third down conversion of the game; however, the Pointers success was short-lived as on their second down Titans’ junior defensive back Cole Yoder intercepted UWSP quarterback Cooper Kerner in the UWO endzone for a touchback.
Yoder’s interception was capitalized on as the offense went the 80 yards needed to score its third touchdown of the game as Kasper connected to senior running back Beau Ash for 19 yards.
Point’s following possession went for a total of negative 6 yards and resulted in a punt. Oshkosh then started on the UWSP 40-yard-line in a drive that resulted in its third touchdown of the game and Hecker’s second as he rushed for 2 yards.
Hecker said his team-oriented mentality is not something unique to him, instead it is a feeling the whole program shares.
“The coaches really stress that it’s a team game,” Hecker said. “We’re not all about ourselves here, and I love it. I think that we have a great group of guys here. We all have the same dream, the same goals and the same ideas.”
After forcing the Pointers to punt on the following drive, Oshkosh had one more touchdown in store. With 2:51 to play in the first half, the Titans had 71 yards to go and, with the help of a 57-yard connection from Kasper to Mentkowski, they did just that. Kasper to Chad Walton for 5 yards gave UWO their fourth score of the game.
As the first half came to an end, the Titans had a comfortable lead of 35-0 and had a total of 417 offensive yards compared to the Pointers’ 98 total yards.
The third quarter began with the Titans kicking off to the Pointers. Although UWSP managed to get its second third down conversion of the game, the Pointers were eventually forced to punt to the Titans. However, the Titans’ first drive of the second half resulted in a quick three-and-out and resulted in the Titans’ first punt of the game.
Despite having to punt, the Titans turned their momentum around on the following Pointers’ drive when UWO freshman defensive back Kollyn Beyer intercepted the Pointers to give the Titans the ball on their own 22-yard line.
The Titans managed to capitalize on their interception as Kasper took the Titans 78 yards in six plays and threw a 20-yard completion to Todarello. As the third quarter came to an end, the Titans were ahead 42-0.
Most of the Titans’ starters sat out the fourth quarter, but that did not stop UWO from racking up the score even more.
Senior backup quarterback Jayden Essman threw 2-3 for 32 yards. Freshman wide receiver Mark Nellen rushed for the only UWO score of the fourth quarter and, despite letting the Pointers score twice, the game ended with UWO on top 49-14.
The Titans continue their season in Platteville as they take on the undefeated UW-Platteville Pioneers in the Titans second road test of the season.
Cerroni said the team has a tough task ahead of them as they head to the road for only the second time this season.
“We have a tough game this week on the road,” Cerroni said. “Now we have to become road warriors. But we’re fun to watch, you can’t say that we’re not.”
