- Linfield Sports Info
- UW-W Sports Info
- Game stats via UW-W
- Oregonian
- Wisconsin State Journal
- Jefferson Co. (Wisc.) Daily Union
Dec 7, 2013
By RICK BRAUN For the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wisc.
Box Score: Warhawks 28, Linfield 14
Linfield -- 10-7- 0-0 = 17
UW-Whitewater-- 0- 14- 7- 7 = 28
Site: Whitewater, Wis.
Perkins Stadium
Attendance: 862
Kickoff Time: Noon
End of Game: 2:30 pm
Duration: 2:30
Temperature: 6F
Weather: sunny, very cold
1st 13:21 LIN - Yoder, Josh 3 yd run (Repp, Josh kick), 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:44
1st 01:48 LIN - Repp, Josh 23 yd field goal 6 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:05
2nd 12:55 LIN - Peterson, E. 60 yd pass from Yoder, Josh (Repp, Josh kick) 5 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:51
2nd 11:06 UWW - Tyler Huber 19 yd pass from Matt Behrendt (Eric Kindler kick) 6 plays, 51 yards, TOP 1:42
2nd 04:07 UWW - Jake Kumerow 12 yd pass from Matt Behrendt (Eric Kindler kick) 9 plays, 84 yards, TOP 2:10
3rd 01:48 UWW - Jake Kumerow 25 yd pass from Matt Behrendt (Eric Kindler kick) 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:28
4th 12:15 UWW - Jake Kumerow 10 yd pass from Matt Behrendt (Eric Kindler kick) 7 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:46
Officials - Referee: Tom Barnette; Umpire: Tony Day; Linesman: Tom Schiller;
Line judge: Josh Thurow; Back judge: Tom Gillund; Field judge: Chris Rossini
Side judge: Ben Conley; Scorer: Not listed.
WHITEWATER – Trailing by 17 points barely 17 minutes into Saturday's NCAA Division III quarterfinal, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team could have suffered a fatal case of ice-cold shock.
Instead, the Warhawks delivered one of their most satisfying victories in what they hope is becoming another special season.
Riding a defense that recorded seven second-half sacks, Whitewater scored the game’s final four touchdowns in 10-degree temperatures to pull out a 28-17 victory over Linfield College of McMinnville, Ore., and a spot in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs.
The Warhawks will play University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at noon Saturday for the chance to return to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Va., for the seventh time in the last eight years. The site of Saturday's game is yet to be determined.
Early on, it appeared the Warhawks wouldn’t be worrying about next week at all.
“We uncharacteristically fumbled and turned it over, we gave up big, long pass plays and we got our backs to the wall,” said Whitewater coach Lance Leipold.
“I could not be more proud of the way we reacted to it.”
Before the Warhawks had even dented the scoreboard, Linfield had already posted a season-high point total for Whitewater opponents, taking a 17-0 lead with 12 minutes, 55 seconds left in the first half.
After stunning the Warhawks with a five-play drive for touchdown on the game’s opening possession, Marcus McLin fumbled away the ensuing kickoff.
Linfield reached the 1 and went for it on fourth down, but the play never got off the ground as Chad Coburn fumbled a snap from the wildcat formation and was stopped short.
Still, the field position helped Linfield make it 10-0 on a 22-yard field goal by Josh Repp with 1:48 left in the first quarter. The margin grew to 17-0 on a 60-yard pass from Josh Yoder to Evan Peterson with 12:55 in the half.
From there, the Warhawks went to work.
They covered 51 yards in six plays for their first score, with quarterback Matt Behrendt connecting with Tyler Huber for the final 19 yards. When the Warhawks got the ball back, they drove 84 yards in nine plays, with Behrendt finding Jake Kumerow for the final 12 yards.
Trimming the halftime margin to 17-14 was a huge relief, and the Warhawks cranked things up in the second half. Yoder had time to complete 17 of 19 first-half passes for 257 yards, but he had no time to do much of anything in the final 30 minutes.
Whitewater posted seven of its eight sacks in the second half, with two of them resulting in Yoder fumbles — the first of which turned the game around.
Linfield still led, 17-14, and was at the Whitewater 20 when freshman John Flood sacked Yoder at the 30. The ball squirted loose to the 45, where Whitewater’s Kyle Wismer covered it. Eight plays later, Kumerow hauled in a 25-yard pass from Behrendt on third and 9, and the Warhawks were ahead for keeps with 1:48 left in the third.
“You’ve just got to keep your composure,” said Behrendt, who completed 26 of 36 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns. “That’s all you can do. We knew the defense was going to get their stuff together and stop them. We just had to do our job and get in the end zone.”
The Warhawks did that one more time as Behrendt hit Kumerow for a 10-yard score with 12:15 left. Kumerow finished with seven catches for 149 yards and three scores.
From there, the Warhawks turned it over to the defense, which completed the day with five fourth-quarter sacks.
But defensive coordinator Brian Borland also credited the offense.
“We needed those guys today,” Borland said. “They put 17 points up in a hurry, and all of a sudden our offense got us right back into the game.
"It was just such a great team effort today. It makes everybody feel good because we could have folded up and we didn’t. That’s what makes me prouder than anything else.”
