The UW Oshkosh football team, ranked No. 19 in the nation according to d3.football.com fell to No. 1 North Central College (Illinois) 45-14 at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Sept. 13.
The Titans had a total of 228 yards compared to North Central’s 569 yards. Oshkosh quarterback Quentin Keene went 9-for-11 with 162 yards and one touchdown and one interception. Sophomore Cole Warren also got into the game and went 2-for-11 and threw one interception.
On defense, UWO’ Kyle Dietzen had 12 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, Ben Hoefer had 10 tackles and Dayshawn Henry had 9 tackles and a blocked punt.
The first quarter was a slow start for North Central as the first drive for them ended in a punt. After Oshkosh went three-and-out on its drive, John Abernathy punted the ball to the 9-yard line where North Central would stall out again and get pushed back to the 3-yard line.
During North Central’s punt, Henry had blocked the punt and it was recovered by the Titans on the 1-yard line. UWO’s Kellen Mella then punched it in for the 1-yard rushing touchdown and UWO had taken the lead 7-0.
But that was the last time that Oshkosh would hold the lead. When the second quarter started, North Central threw a 33-yard touchdown to even the score to 7-7. After a stalled drive from UWO, North Central marched down the field again and punched in another touchdown taking the lead 14-7.
UWO had gotten to North Central’s 32 -yard line before Keene’s pass was intercepted by North Central’s Jahmar Daniel who returned it for 27 yards. North Central capitalized on the interception with a 59 -yard rushing touchdown from their quarterback Garret Wilson making the score 21-7. North Central then intercepted Warren at UWO’s 41 and kicked a field goal making the score 24-7.
To start the second half, North Central stalled the Titan offense by forcing four straight three-and- outs. North Central did not let the opportunity go to waste scoring two more touchdowns making the score 38-7.
After another touchdown drive from North Central, Oshkosh got back on the board with a touchdown pass from Keene to Jackson Brush going for 29 yards making the score 45-14.
Oshkosh will face Roosevelt University (Illinois) in the first home game of the season on Saturday Sept .20, at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
