Fresh off a bye week and a 60-7 trouncing of East Texas Baptist University, the UW Oshkosh football team will take on UW-Whitewater in a matchup between nationally ranked teams to kick off the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season at Titan Stadium Sept. 30.
UWO (2-1) enters the contest ranked No. 22 in the nation by d3football.com and the Warhawks (3-0) are ranked No. 4 after victories over ranked opponents John Carroll University (Ohio), St. John’s University (Minnesota) and Mary Harden-Baylor (Texas).
The Titans will be led by quarterback Kobe Berghammer, who threw for five touchdowns in UWO’s blowout win over the Tigers Sept. 16, leads the nation with 14 touchdown passes and has totaled 791 passing yards on the year. Berghammer is also the team’s leading rusher, totaling 137 yards on the ground on 23 attempts. Senior Kaio Harn has made a dent in the run game as well in his first two games with the Titans after transferring to UWO early in the season, rushing for a total of 133 yards and a touchdown.
Wide receiver Tony Steger and tight end Clayton Schwalbe will hope to continue their hot streak to begin the year after they each caught four touchdown passes during the first three games of the season. Steger leads the team with 169 receiving yards on 12 catches, while Schwalbe has caught 10 passes for 107 yards. Wide receiver Trae Tetzlaff leads the team in receptions, tallying 13 catches for 127 yards to begin the year.
In their last game, the Titans jumped out to an early 15-0 lead after touchdown receptions from Harn and Jon Mathieu, as well as a two-point conversion run from Schwalbe. The Tigers added a touchdown to the board late in the first quarter, but Schwalbe caught his second touchdown pass of the day and kicker Nolan Mobley added a field goal as the UWO went into halftime leading 25-7. In the third quarter, the Titans exploded for 28 points off touchdown receptions from Steger and Avery Kurth, as well as rushing touchdowns from Harn and Steger. Backup quarterback Quinten Keene added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to help UWO cruise to a 53-point victory.
Whitewater will be led by their two quarterbacks Jason Ceniti and Alec Ogden who have combined to average over 200 passing yards per game to start the season. Ogden has passed for 288 yards and two touchdowns this season while Ceniti has thrown for 319 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
Leading the ground game for the Warhawks will be running back Tamir Thomas who has rushed for 370 yards and five touchdowns so far this season. Steven Hein and Drake Martin are the team’s leading receivers, with Hein catching 11 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns while Martin has caught nine passes for 133 yards and a touchdown in three games this season.
In their previous matchup, the Warhawks edged No. 19 ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor 17-14 on the road. UWW kicked off the scoring with a rushing touchdown from Thomas, but the Crusaders responded with a rushing touchdown early in the second quarter. Whitewater was able to pull ahead at halftime off another rushing touchdown from Thomas to put the Warhawks up 14-7. Mary Hardin-Baylor tied the game at 14 early in the third quarter, but a field goal from kicker Jeff Isotalo-McGuire put UWW on top and Whitewater hung on in the fourth quarter to get the win.
The last time the Titans and the Warhawks faced off, UWW secured a 17-3 victory at home after blanking UWO for the first three quarters of the game. Berghammer finished the contest 18-38 with 193 passing yards and an interception while the Titans combined for just 87 rushing yards. Whitewater scored nearly all their points on the ground, with senior running back Preston Strasburg rushing for 29 yards and two touchdowns while the team combined for 165 rushing yards.
The Titans will face off against the Warhawks at 1:05 p.m. at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium for Hall of Fame day where the athletics department will highlight the newest inductees into the UWO Athletics Hall of Fame.
