Box Score

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UW-W, 13-1, will be making its third straight NCAA III championship appearance, they will be facing a familiar opponent, Mount Union College (OH), 14-0, after a 62-14 win over Bethel College (MN).  The Stagg Bowl will be played in Salem, Virginia on December 15.   For the third straight year it also matches the teams ranked 1-2 (Mount Union, Whitewater) in the Division III polls.

"For these kids especially, it's a great accomplishment," UW-W coach Lance Leipold said.  "From my arrival its been something they've talked about since January, about trying to finish things off and get back to this opportunity.  At the press conference, when I was named head coach, the thing I tried to strive for, and still do to this day, it's not about myself.  It's about the program and the tradition of the program, and the young men and coaching staff that have been here and worked hard."

Whitewater scored the second time it had the ball, going 73 yards in nine plays.  Quarterback Danny Jones (Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley) ended the drive at 7:43 with a one yard quarterback sneak.  Brett Parker blocked Whitewater's extra point attempt.

The teams traded punts, and the Crusader defense bottled the Warhawks up on their own seven.  UMHB won the field position battled, gaining possession on the Whitewater 42.  Four runs later, Crusader quarterback Josh Welch connected with Peter Medlock for 23 yards to put the ball at the Whitewater one yard line.  Welch, like Jones, pushed the ball in on a quarterback sneak.  The Crusaders hit their extra point, putting UMH-B up 7-6 with 2:05 left in the first quarter.

Whitewater took the ensuing kickoff and covered 62 yards in ten plays.  Jones hit wide receiver Neil Mrkvicka (Greendale/Greendale) with a 25 yard scoring pass to make it 13-7 at the 13:40 mark in the second quarter.

Late in the third quarter Mary Hardin-Baylor drove the ball to the Whitewater nine yard line and was facing a fourth and goal when the Crusaders set up what appeared to be a field goal attempt.  Whether a mis-handled snap or a designed play, UMH-B did not get the kick off and Whitewater dodged a bullet and the score remained 13-7 going in to the fourth quarter. 

Whitewater made it a two score game with 2:31 left in the game.  The Warhawks took the ball on their own ten, and after a three yard run by Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle), Jones pulled off his longest run of the season, going 62 yards on a quarterback draw to put Whitewater on the Crusader 25 yard line.  The Crusader defense stiffened, but Jeff Schebler (Davenport, IA/Assumption) ended the scoring in the game with a 39 yard field goal.  It was Schebler's first field goal attempt since a leg injury sidelined him in the first quarter of the UW-Platteville game.

The 16 points put up by Whitewater equals the lowest output of the season.  UW-W also managed that total in a 26-16 loss to Saint Cloud State University on September 15.

With the win, the Warhawks' home winning streak is now at 25 games.

By almost every measure the game was a draw.  Whitewater had 14 first downs, Mary Hardin Baylor 11.  Whitewater had 273 total yards of offense, UMH-B 269.  Whitewater had the ball for 66 plays, Mary Hardin-Baylor 67.  There were a total of seven penalities in the game, split 4-3 (Whitewater 4).  There was only one turnover in the game, remarkable given the frigid conditions.

"It was a field position ball game," said Leipold.  "It was anyone's ball game, a great football game to watch."

The teams came in with three backs averaging 100+ yards per game, and the defenses kept Whitewater's Justin Beaver (Palmyra/Palmyra-Eagle), and UMH-B's James Thrasher and Quincy Daniels, under the century mark.  Daniels came close, gaining 96 yards on 22 carries, and Jones led the Warhawks with 87 on 16 attempts.

"I told the guys at halftime, the big question I had coming in was, was the weather going to have an adverse affect on us and it wasn't," UMH-B coach Pete Fredenburg said.  "We had a great opportunity to win the ballgame and we didn't."