The UW Oshkosh football team dominated UW-River Falls on Saturday 41-20, making this Saturday’s game against UW-Whitewater the de facto Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title game.

UW Oshkosh is currently 5-1 in conference and a win against UW-Whitewater, who is 6-0 in conference, would give the Titans the tiebreaker advantage and the WIAC title.

Senior wide receiver Riley Kallas said the team has to keep focused going into the big game Saturday.

“We are just trying to get better every day, take it day by day,” Kallas said. “We’ve got a lot of young talent, and we’ve got a lot to prove.”

UWO offense got off to a fast start against UWRF, scoring on their second play from scrimmage, a 27-yard run from freshman Kobe Berghammer.

The UWO defense matched the offense’s fast start, recording an interception on UWRF’s first play from scrimmage.

Berghammer continued to demonstrate his ability to be effective on the ground and through the air as he led the Titans in rushing yards (177) and passing yards (162) for the fifth time this season.

Berghammer also scored another touchdown in addition to his 27-yard scramble, and a 68-yard run.

Freshman Peter MacCudden also had a standout performance on Saturday, rushing for 81 yards and scoring two touchdowns.

Kallas led UWO in receiving with 67 yards.

The Titan defense had their way with the Falcons’ offense as they recorded four turnovers, including a pick-six from sophomore Connor Zirpel.

Kollyn Beyer was a dominant force on defense, recording two interceptions and eight tackles.

In addition to effectively forcing turnovers, the Titan defense limited the Falcons to 91 rushing yards compared to UWO’s 311.

Jaydon Haag continued to shine in his role as place kicker, completing both of his field goal attempts on Saturday, making him 9 of 9 on field goal attempts this season.

Head coach Pat Cerroni could not be happier with Haag’s performance this season.

“It’s been awesome.” Cerroni said. “It’s honestly the reason we’ve won games, it’s because he’s been consistent. So knock on wood that it stays this way.”

With the massive game against UWW coming up, MacCudden understands that the team must have its best performance of the season this weekend.

“It’s obviously a big game,” MacCudden said. “This is why we come here and play for this program. This is our rival and we are here to make a statement. We’re not done yet, and we’ve got a lot to go.”