Warhawks Earn Tough Win Against Ranked Titans

WHITEWATER — Former Janesville Parker athlete Paul Kim couldn’t have made a more impactful play in his initial start of his freshman UW-Whitewater season.

With less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Warhawks’ defense needed to stop the UW-Oshkosh Titans from scoring a game-tying touchdown. A stop by the Warhawks defense would secure a victory against one of their fiercest competitors in the No. 17-ranked Titans.

The Titans were on the Warhawks’ 46-yard line when they looked to pass on second-and-11. As Titans quarterback Cole Warren looked for a receiver, he was blindside sacked by freshman cornerback Kim which resulted in a fumble.

Kim’s sack pushed the Titans back 9 yards and was one of many big plays the freshman defensive back made in his first game as a starter for the Warhawks in their 21-14 win over 17th-ranked UW-Oshkosh.

“The quarterback kept the ball in his hands and I took the opportunity to hit him and forced the fumble,” said Kim recalling the play.

Although the Warahawks did not recover the fumble, they forced a punt and closed out the game on offense for a triumph.

A triumph before a record-setting crowd. {span}The Warhawks set the Division III record (for games played on a college campus) and WIAC attendance record for the third consecutive season with 21,233 fans at Perkins Stadium Saturday. The mark breaks last year’s record by more than 1,000 fans. {/span}

As time expired on the scoreboard, Warhawks quarterback Jason Ceniti turned to the home crowd at Perkins to celebrate the hard-fought win against a tough Titans team.

In addition to Kim’s fourth-quarter heroics, he led the team with seven tackles.

“As a freshman it’s a great opportunity just to be out there,” said Kim.

Naturally, Kim had nerves prior to the game, but once he stepped onto the field, it was just like any other game.

“I got nervous a little bit before the game but right when we got to kickoff the nerves came out,” said Kim

“Him not budging and being up to the challenge is something that you can’t replicate as a freshman,” said senior running back Tamir Thomas, who complimented Kim by calling him the “next Egon Hein,” a defensive back that earned All-WIAC honors while on the Warhawks.

The great performance from Kim was needed because the Titans are one of the toughest teams in the WIAC conference.

The Titans put the pressure on the Warhawks right away with an opening-drive touchdown. Freshman quarterback Cole Warren connected with Trae Tetzlaff for a 33-yard score. The Titans’ second touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Warren paired up with Justice Lovelace for another 30-plus yard touchdown.

“[I’m] just proud of the guys battling. That was a heck of a challenge,” said Warhawks head coach Jace Rindahl. “We knew it was going to be four quarters. We knew Oshkosh was a dang good team and we just kept fighting,”

A trio of senior Warhawks scored their 21 points: Ceniti and running backs Tamir Thomas and Drake Martin each scored rushing touchdowns.

Martin, who sometimes plays as a fullback or tight end, got his team’s first score of the day, capping off an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown that tied the game.

The drive started following a 57 yard punt from Titans punter Walleye Ratliff.

On second-and-8, Ceniti fired a pass to wide receiver Steven Hein for 16 yards. A few plays later, Ceniti ran for 2 yards but was pushed out of bounds on a late hit that moved the Warhawks up another 14 yards. Following a pair of handoffs to Thomas, Martin and the Warhawks got into the end zone and tied the game 7-7.

The Warhawks took their first lead of the game with 1:13 left in the second quarter. This time, it was Ceniti with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Ceniti paired up with Brian Wilterdink for a 50-yard bomb on one of the ten plays in the 87-yard drive.

“We got the points that we needed. We scored more than the opponent,” said Rindahl. “We finished the game with the offense on the field, and he’s the one leading that and managing the offense. So proud of him for his role and what he’s done.”

Ceniti had a rough performance against Mary Hardin-Baylor two weeks ago. The senior QB had flu-like symptoms and threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

“Mary Hardin-Baylor was a tough one,” said Ceniti. “[It] wasn’t a good showing by us and we really responded in the bye week and responded this past week.”

One of the reasons for the Warhawks poor performance against the Crusaders was not having Thomas available for the game. On Saturday the senior back took 26-carries for 126 yards and punched in the game’s final touchdown.

“For myself it felt good. I knew my body was right and I was just ready to get out there and play football again,” said Thomas.

After the Warhawks celebrate the win they get right back to work to prepare for their next game on the road against the UW-Stout Blue Devils on Saturday, Oct. 12th.

UW-Whitewater 21,UW-Oshkosh 17

Whitewater 0 14 0 7 — 21

Oshkosh 7 0 0 7 — 14

First quarter

O — Tetzlaff 33 pass from Warren (Mobley kick).

Second quarter

W — Martin 2 rush (Fox kick).

W — Ceniti 1 rush (Fox kick).

Fourth quarter

W — Thomas 16 rush (Fox kick).

O — Lovelace 32 pass from Warren (Mobley kick).

Team stats — First downs: W 20, O 13. Total offense: W 325, O 292. Rushing: W 54-206, O 17-9. Yards passing: W 119 O 283. Passes (comp-att-int): W 8-18-1. W 19-33-0. Fumbles-lost: W 1-0, O 3-1. Penalties: W 2-20, O 3-39

Individual statistics — Rushing: W, Thomas 26-123. O, Lovelace 10-44. Passing (comp.-att.-yards-int.): W, Ceniti 8-18-119-1. O, Warren 119-33-283-0. Receiving: BD, Wilterdink 1-50. O, Tetzlaff 7-82; Schwalbe 3-64.