The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater defeated North Central College 59-28 in a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III second round playoff game Saturday afternoon in Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, Wisconsin.  UW-W, 11-1, will host Wabash College (IN), 11-1, Saturday, December 1 at 12:00 in a NCAA III quarterfinal game.  Tickets for the Wabash game are on sale in the University ticket office, and will be sold at Perkins Stadium on the day of the game.  Call 262-472-2222 for ticket information. 

Tickets:  $10 adults and $4 for senior citizens and students, are on sale at the UW-Whitewater ticket office until 4:00 p.m. Friday.  Ticket windows will open at Perkin Stadium at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.  Call 262-472-2222 for ticket information.

Warhawk fans ... compliments of DLK Enterprises and the UW-W athletic department, you are invited to the Coulthart Family Pav ilion on game day at 10:00 a.m.  Hot and cold beverages, along with Italian hoagies, will be served while supplies last.  This is a free event for all Warhawk fans.

Follow the Warhawks on-line ... If you can't be in the stands, view our live in-game statistics or listen to Gary Douglas and Tom Pattison on WKCH, 106.5 FM (or you can do both).  The game can also be viewed on Charter Cable (channel 19 or 20, check you local listings) in south central Wisconsin courtesy of the UW-W TV production crew.  The Warhawks will not be video streamed this week due to cost implications.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

Live Stats during the Game
Audio Stream of the Game

 
Fans got three games for the price of one Saturday.  Whitewater jumped out to a 21-0 lead in game one, North Central cut the margin to 24-21 in game two, and UW-W outscored NCC 35-7 in game three.

Box Score
Animoto video

"I think it was a close game," UW-W coach Lance Leipold said.  "It was a lot tighter than the score indicates.  Two things play a part in that.  One was our ability to use big plays and short scoring drives versus their ability to move the ball on us."  

Game one:  Whitewater's Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle) scored on the second play of the game, rushing it 74 yards, UW-W's longest play of the season, for a 7-0 lead.  Later in the quarter UW-W took advantage of a misplayed North Central punt attempt, taking possession at the North Central 35.  On the sixth play of Whitewater's drive quarterback Danny Jones (Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley) ran it in from two yards out, 14-0 Whitewater.  On the ensuing North Central possession, Whitewater's Matt Blaziewske (Kenosha/Tremper) returned an Aaron Fanthorpe pass 35 yards for a touchdown.  Blaziewske leads UW-W with five interceptions this season, returning two for     scores.  21-0 Whitewater. 

Game two:  North Central got on the board with a six play, 84 yard drive ending on a Fanthorpe to Steve Hlavac 35 yard pass.  Whitewater did get a 25 yard field goal from Nick Croak (Muskego/Muskego) at 4:04 in the second, but North Central responded with a 64 yard drive, again ending with Fanthorpe finding Hlavac, this time for 21 yards, with 0:20 left in the half, making it 24-14 Whitewater as the teams left the field.   The Cardinals opened the second half with a fifteen play, 73 yard drive.  Dominic Sulo ran in from a yard out to make it 24-21 at 9:34.

Game three:  Jones found Matt Gifford (Waukesha West/West) with a 70 yard pass, Whitewater's longest passing play from scrimmage this year, a one play drive.  Whitewater led 31-21 at 9:18.  Later in the thrid quarter Whitewater had another one play drive, Beaver rushing 47 yards to up the score to 38-21.  North Central recovered a Whitewater fumble on punt return, and ended a drive with Sulo's second one yard TD at 14:06 in the fourth, in what proved to be the Cardinals' final points.  Luke Nelson (Hartford/Hartford) recovered a North Central fumbled punt, giving UW-W the ball at the NCC 31.  Jones and Gifford hooked up again, this time for 15 yards to make it 45-28.  North Central attempted a fourth and five at the 50, and UW-W took over on the incomplete pass and on Whitewater's third play of the drive Beaver scored his third TD of the game, this time 40 yards to make it 52-28 at 8:06.  UW-W defensive end Ryan Ogrizovich (Burlington/Burlington) intercepted a Fanthorpe pass and ran it 40 yards for the final points of the game.  Ogrizovich also scored a touchdown, a 15 yard fumble return, last week in the first round win over Capital.  

“We really didn't have any scoring drives today,” said Leipold. “That's got to be a little bit of a concern. You've got to be able to drive the football on some people. You like the big play, but I think tomorrow when we look at the film we've got to be able to drive the ball on some people by running, passing and mixing things, and we've shown that, but today we just didn't have that.”

Whitewater ran its winning streak at Perkins Stadium to twenty-three games, dating back to the final game of the 2004 season.  

Beaver rushed 29 times for 241 yards, the ninth 200+ rushing game of his career.  He also moved in to second place in NCAA Division III history, totaling 6,130 yards in his career.  

"What you see from Justin on the field, you see just as much or more off the field," Leipold said.  "A great leader, great work ethic, practices hard every day, hits the weight room, helps out in the community -- does all those things."

Ogrizovich added four sacks to his season total, giving him fourteen, one half behind school recordholder Ryan Kleppe (Mount Horeb/Mount Horeb) (2006).

Hlavac led the Cardinal offense with nine catches for 155 yards and two scores. Fanthorpe was 18-47 passing for 237 yards, and he also rushed for 62 yards. Linebacker Matt Wenger was in on eleven tackles, added a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble and a quarterback sack.

North Central, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champion, ends the season 9-3.