DIVISION III FOOTBALL Oshkosh gets to first final
Oshkosh — It was not the kind of game UW-Oshkosh coach Pat Cerroni expected, but it was the outcome he wanted so badly.
After years of watching UW-Whitewater represent the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the Stagg Bowl, the Titans finally broke through Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought NCAA Division III semifinal victory over John Carroll, 10-3, at J.J. Keller Field.
“It’s about time,” Cerroni said after his team beat the Blue Streaks for the second time this season — the only de-
feats in 14 games for the Ohio team.
Oshkosh (13-1) advanced to the title game Friday night in Salem, Va., and will play Mary Hardin-Baylor (Belton, Texas), a 14-12 winner over defending champion Mount Union in the other semifinal.
It will be the first time since 2004, when Linfield edged Mary Hardin-Baylor, 28-21, that the Purple Raiders won’t play for the championship. UWWhitewater was the opponent in nine of those 11 games, winning six times.
“I’ve been in Division III now for 16 years, 11 years as a head coach, and nothing makes me more sick than seeing the same two teams go there every year,” Cerroni said. “To be one of the teams that’s different, it’s a pretty proud moment.
“Let’s give (Whitewater) credit, though, because I don’t think we’d be here unless they did what they’ve done. They gave us the motivation to get better and learn from them. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Whitewater and what they’ve done. We aspired to be them.”
And the Titans finally succeeded, thanks to a defense that kept powerful John Carroll out of the end zone. Oshkosh beat the Blue Streaks, 33-14, in the regular-season opener, but it was evident early on this would be a different kind of game.
It was 0-0 at the half, with John Carroll’s stout defense holding Oshkosh to a mere 78 yards, including 20 on the ground in 14 carries, and only four first downs. The Blue Streaks weren’t much better, managing 121 yards of offense (67 rushing) and seven first downs as the punters got plenty of work.
The 10-3 final represented the lowest-scoring semifinal game in Division III history. The previous low was 20 combined points, including Whitewater’s 20-0 victory over St. Thomas in 2011.
“Today was a defensive battle,” Cerroni said. “I knew they were a great football team. They proved that throughout the season. We knew it would be a dogfight and it was.
“Their defense is great but maybe ours is pretty good, too.”
The Titans finally got going at the outset of the second half when they gave John Carroll a new look, going to the wildcat formation with tailback Dylan Hecker taking direct snaps. Hecker broke loose for a 28-yard scamper and Oshkosh moved quickly down the field, covering 71 yards on nine plays, with quarterback Brett Kasper scoring on a 3-yard bootleg play.
“It gives the defense a different look,” said Hecker, who rushed for 39 of his 74 yards on that drive. “A lot of it is kind of the same plays; it’s just direct snaps to me. I like it a lot, and it has been successful.”
Yards on the ground continued to be difficult to come by for both teams. Oshkosh’s active defense held John Carroll to a total of 107 yards on 30 carries (the Blue Streaks were averaging 184) and the Titans had to settle for 133 yards en route to a meager total offensive output of 214.
“It was a dogfight in the box,” Hecker said. “Give a lot of credit to their defense. They came to play today. It was tough to run the ball, and that’s a credit to them. It came down to who wanted it more.”
Aware that mistakes likely would decide the low-scoring game, Oshkosh stuck with a conservative game plan, rarely throwing the ball vertically. After falling behind, the Blue Streaks were forced to go more to the air and freshman quarterback Anthony Moeglin was picked off three times after intermission.
The Titans were able to turn those three picks into just three points on Eli Wettstein’s 32-yard field goal with 10:13 remaining. John Carroll responded with a 24-yard field goal by Matt Danko with five minutes remaining, but that was all the visitors could muster in losing for the second time on the same field.
The game ended with Oshkosh linebacker Branden Lloyd breaking through to sack Moeglin for an 11-yard loss on second and 10 from the Titans 35, a fitting end to a fiercely fought defensive battle. The Blue Streaks, who beat Mount Union (regular-season finale in the Ohio Athletic Conference) and UW-Whitewater (NCAA quarterfinals) to get this far, failed to advance to what would have been their first Stagg Bowl.
“I think they’re a great football team,” John Carroll coach Tom Arth said of the Titans. “They’re big, athletic, physical, tough — everything you look for in a team. I give them a lot of credit. They beat us today.”