Only now that the season has ended does Phil Meyer even begin to think he understands how his frenetic University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh football team works.

Give it a challenge, tell it can’t succeed, put some obstacles up to make it even tougher and then watch what happens. It may not be pretty and it certainly isn’t the best way to navigate through a football season, but for Meyer and the Titans it is apparently the only way to play.

Seven times this season, the Titans had a chance to win a game on their final possession. Five times they failed and the other two — including Saturday — they succeeded.

So it was in the season finale in the snow flurries at Titan Stadium as Oshkosh rallied from 13 points down in the final seven minutes to beat Whitewater, 21-20. That follows a 21-point fourth quarter comeback two weeks ago that beat Platteville.

“This was huge,” said a red-eyed Meyer afterward. “They believed they were going to win and they kept their cool. I’m just so happy for these guys. There’s just no quit in this team.”

Oshkosh finished its season 4-6, its best mark since 1998, and went 2-5 in the WIAC in which four of those losses came by a total of 13 points.

The Titans rallied again behind the arm and legs of sophomore quarterback Nick Wara, who shook off knee and shoulder injuries to guide Oshkosh to two late touchdowns, including his 10-yard quarterback draw with 24 seconds to play, followed by Ryan Fitzgerald’s extra point, that won the game.

Wara, who threw on nearly every down in the second half as Oshkosh went to its no-huddle offense, completed 37 of 59 passes for 330 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The 37 completions broke the previous school record of 31 set by Dennis Bogacz in 1989.

“We had a good, strong, young quarterback,” said senior wide receiver Steve Wagner, who finished his UWO career with 12 catches for 140 yards and a score. “And we had three senior receivers (including Jeremy James and Kris Johnson who combined for 11 receptions) who really wanted to step up.”

It was Wagner’s six-yard touchdown reception with 4:34 to play that cut Whitewater’s lead to 20-13. Then, after stopping the Warhawks on fourth down on the UWO 33, Wara and the Titans went back to work.

Wara connected with Wagner on a seven-yard completion for a first down on fourth and six from the Whitewater 41 and, on third and seven from the Warhawks 30, Wara scrambled 20 yards down the right sideline to set up the winning score.

On second down from the 10, Wara stepped back then raced through a huge hole up the middle for the touchdown. Fitzgerald’s extra point gave Oshkosh the lead and, eventually, its first win over Whitewater since 1987.

“He was really banged up and I thought I might have to take him out,” Meyer said of Wara’s injuries that forced Oshkosh to abandon the quarterback draws Wara likes to run. “But on the last play, we had to do it. He’s a tough kid and a great leader.”
Whitewater did get to the Oshkosh 43 but on the final play, backup quarterback Reggie Stauss’ pass was knocked down by a host of Titans in the end zone.

“I think after the Platteville game we knew we had a shot,” senior defensive end Justin Schneider said.

But it didn’t look that way most of the game as Whitewater built a 20-7 lead and then went into an offensive shell. It didn’t help that starting quarterback Randy Borgardt left in the second quarter with an ankle injury and didn’t return and Stauss completed just nine of 21 passes for 146 yards and one interception.

Chuck Carlson: (920) 426-6662 or ccarlson@oshkosh.gannett.com or http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/index.shtml

The UW-River Falls football team scored 13 unanswered points in the last seven minutes of Saturday's game against UW-Oshkosh to claim the team's first WIAC victory, 13-12, at Ramer Field.

Trailing 12-0 in the final quarter, John Peterlik sparked the Falcon comeback, taking a pitch straight to the sideline and then turning the corner. He evaded three tackles in pursuit and dashed 42 yards for the score. Adam Bergdahl's extra point was good and would prove critical.

The Titans then fumbled two plays later and Falcon captain Luke Miska recovered. However, the UW-RF offense went three-and-out and punted with 4:24 to go.

On third and five from his own 12-yard line, Titan quarterback Nick Wara's pass over the middle was picked off by Kyle Hoegh at the 19, and Hoegh returned it all the way through a number of Titans to the end zone, giving the Falcons a 13-12 lead with 3:25 remaining. Dustin Vogelgesang's two-point pass attempt was broken up.

Oshkosh got the ball back and drove to the Falcon 45, where it faced fourth down and two yards with just over a minute and a half left. Nick Kilton took the handoff and bounced to the outside left, where Miska met him and drove him a couple yards horizontally before taking him down. Despite reaching for the first down, Kilton's attempt came up less than half a foot short, and the Falcons took the final possession.

Peterlik broke away on third down but then slid to the ground after 30 yards to run the clock out for the win.

The Falcons controlled the clock with 32:45; Oshkosh had 27:15. The Falcons out-rushed the Titans 225 yards to 195. UW-O passed for 110 yards; the Falcons had 46. Oshkosh lost one of three fumbles; the Falcons recovered both of their two. Both teams threw one interception.

UW-RF was 3-of-15 on third down. UW-O converted six of 17.

Peterlik led all rushers with 11 carries for 113 yards. UW-O's Andy Stern was next with 18 rushes for 103 yards.

Vogelgesang rushed 24 times for 79 yards and completed 2-of-8 passes for 46 yards with one interception.

Wara rushed 17 times for 65 yards for the Titans and completed 11-of-21 passes for 110 yards with one interception.

Bryon Grossenbacher led Falcon receivers with a catch for 32 yards. The other pass went to Mitch Johnson for 14 yards.

Titan Jeremy James led UW-O receivers with four catches for 34 yards. Kris Johnson caught twice for 48 yards.

Both teams missed field goals in the contest. UW-O missed a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter, and Bergdahl missed a 32-yarder in the third quarter.

The Falcons had four sacks on Wara. Jeff Horton added two to his league-leading eight. Ben Gillett, Josh Meyer, Nate Hendrickson and Aaron Retzlaff contributed to the others.

Gillett led UW-RF tacklers with 11, while Hoegh had 10 and the big interception for a touchdown.

The series between UW-Stevens Point and UW-Oshkosh hasn't been known for tight finishes, but in the 100th meeting between the two schools, the old rivals battled to the final play with UW-Stevens Point claiming a 12-10 victory in the closest game in the series since a 7-7 tie in 1959.

Pointer freshman cornerbacks Chase Kostichka and Jared Flesch each knocked down UW-Oshkosh passes at the goal line in the closing seconds to seal the game for the Pointers, who improved to 53-38-8 in the all-time series that is the longest in the NCAA Division III between two non-private schools.

Both teams moved the ball effectively down the field for spurts, but were unable to mount long drives in treacherous, muddy field conditions. UW-Stevens Point scored both of its touchdowns on big plays as Scott Krause hit Tony Romano with a 67-yard touchdown and Kurt Kielblock with a 65-yard scoring pass in the third quarter.

After a scoreless first half that saw neither team get inside the other's 15-yard line and the only true scoring opportunity come by the Pointer defense when it had the Titans backed up on their own 1-yard line, all of the scoring came in the third quarter.

The Pointers scored with 11:55 left in the quarter when Krause lofted a pass down the sideline to Romano on a fly pattern. He broke one tackle and sprinted 67 yards for the score. Romano finished with six catches for a career-high 111 yards and Krause was 11-for-20 passing for 179 yards.

UW-Oshkosh cut the lead to 6-3 on a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald with 8:49 left and took the lead at 10-6 with 41 seconds left in the quarter on a 20-yard pass from Mike Budziszewski to Steve Wagner on a third-and-7 play.

UW-Stevens Point scored on its next play after the Titans kickoff went out-of-bounds. Krause was flushed from the pocket and found an open Kurt Kieblock, who caught a pass and raced down the sideline 65 yards for the lead. All five of the Pointers wins this season have come with comebacks in the final 15:30 of the game. The touchdown was the Pointers seventh this season from 65 yards or more.

The Titans had the ball inside the Pointers' 40-yard line three times in the final seven minutes, but punted the first time and then Kostichka had an interception at the 11-yard line the second time. Krause was sacked on third down and Dillon Maney had to punt out of the end zone, but blasted a 53-yard kick to the Titans 43-yard line.

UW-Oshkosh again drove deep into Pointer territory and had a second-and-1 play from the Pointers' 20-yard line with 40 seconds left. Budziszewski dropped back to pass and Nick Haffele recorded a 10-yard sack for his 15th tackle of the game.

Kostichka broke up the third-down pass at the goal line down the left sideline and Flesch knocked down the fourth-down pass on the right sideline to seal the victory.

Andy Stern rushed for 92 yards on 20 carries and Wagner caught eight passes for 83 yards to lead the Titans. Kielblock had 53 yards on 10 carries to lead UW-Stevens Point.

The two-point game was one of only four games in the 100-game history of the series decided by two points or less, excluding the eight ties.

Ranked 24th in the NCAA Division III by D3Football.Com, the Wartburg College football team rallied from a 17-point third quarter deficit and then held on to defeat upset-minded UW-Oshkosh, 24-20, on Saturday (Sept. 7) night at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh (0-1) took advantage of three turnovers and a missed field goal by Wartburg College in the first half to take a 20-3 lead. The Titans took a 7-0 lead at the 5:35 mark of the first quarter when free safety Nick Carlson (Sr. • Menasha) intercepted a pass thrown by Wartburg College quarterback Jake Olsen and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. Following an UW-Oshkosh punt, Wartburg College placekicker Jordan Maus made the score 7-3 on a 35-yard field goal with 5:42 left in the second quarter.

UW-Oshkosh totaled only 44 yards of offense on its first-four drives of the game, but extended its lead to 20-3 by compiling 112 yards on its fifth and sixth possessions. Wide receiver Steve Wagner (Sr. • Lomira) accounted for 94 of those 112 yards by catching touchdown passes of 40 and 54 yards from quarterback Nick Wara (So. • Oshkosh) at the 3:31 and 45 second marks of the second quarter, respectively. Wagner's first touchdown was set up by cornerback Nick Kilton's (Fr. • Waukesha) 35-yard kickoff return, while his other was set up by linebacker Craig Korth's (So. • Menasha) recovered fumble. Wartburg College had an opportunity to close its 17-point deficit at the end of the second period, but Maus' 43-yard field goal hit the crossbar as time expired.

In the second half, Wartburg College scored touchdowns on three of its first-five possessions to take a 24-20 lead. The Knights scored their game-winning points on Olsen's 55-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Winters with 3:57 remaining in the contest. Earlier, Olsen completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Winters at the 3:57 mark of the third quarter and running back Justin Beatty ran two yards for a touchdown at the 7:01 mark of the fourth quarter.

UW-Oshkosh, which dropped a 31-10 decision to Wartburg College last year, threatened to regain the lead twice in the closing 3:57 of the game. The Titans had a five-play, 24-yard drive end when they ran out of downs at their own 48-yard line with 1:59 left in the game and a nine-play, 54-yard drive cancelled at the Knights' 31-yard line when the contest ended. UW-Oshkosh's final play of the game was a pass thrown out of the end zone by Wara.

Wartburg College outgained UW-Oshkosh in yards, 439-246, and held a 21-13 advantage in first downs. The Knights converted only three of their 14 third down conversions, but were successful on four of their five on fourth down tries. Among the fourth down conversions for Wartburg College was a fourth-and-15 play that resulted in Olsen's 30-yard scoring toss to Winters.

Running back Brad Hodapp led Wartburg College in rushing with 110 yards in 14 carries, while Beatty added 89 in 29 attempts. Olsen completed 16 of 26 passes for 218 yards, including five for 108 yards to Winters.

UW-Oshkosh's Wara completed 13 of 29 passes for 170 yards, including nine for a career-best 145 yards to Wagner. Wara made his first collegiate start for UW-Oshkosh, replacing Alan Beversdorf who stated the previous 27 games for the Titans. UW-Oshkosh's ground game netted only 76 yards, with running back Matt Kaufman (Sr. • Porterfield) leading the way with 36 yards in 11 attempts.

Defensively, linebacker Justin Bishop led Wartburg College in tackles with eight, while Carlson and Korth paced UW-Oshkosh with 11.5 and 10, respectively.