12-6 Book to Upload - UW-Whitewater Athletics

start and were forced to punt. Shane Covington (Milwaukee/Riverside) was set to return the punt for UW-
W but bobbled the fair catch and the Falcons recovered at the three yard line. Two plays later the
Falcons crossed the goal line and knocked through an extra point to tighten the score 14-7.
On the ensuing drive UW-W marched 80 yards and scored on a touchdown strike from Blanchard to
Tamsett that covered four yards. Blanchard went 6-for-6 for 59 yards on the drive, while rushing for eight
yards on two carries. Desmin Ward (Milwaukee/Hamilton) accounted for the other 13 yards on three
carries.
With a 21-7 lead the Warhawk defense went back to work and stopped the Falcons after six plays. On
the following drive the Warhawks went 83 yards, scoring on a 45 yard pass from Blanchard to Tyler Huber
(Mukwonago/North Prairie). The Warhawks used great balance on the drive throwing the ball five times
and rushing four times.
The Falcons drove down to the Warhawk 27 yard line and lined up for a field goal to end the half, but Kyle
Wismer (Spring Grove, IL/Richmond-Burton) blocked the kick and the teams went into intermission with
the Warhawks leading 28-7.
On the very first play of the second half, after a 30 yard kickoff return by Zach Howard (Oak Park, IL/Oak
Park, IL) that set UW-W up at the Falcon 40, Blanchard connected with Huber again, this time for 60
yards, to give UW-W a 35-7 lead after another Kindler extra point.
The following four drives, two by each team, resulted in no points.
The Falcons took over with 5:52 in the third quarter at their own 11 and drove to the Warhawk 29 yard
line. On fourth and eight UW-RF elected to go for a field goal and Chad Blair again had his kick tipped at
the line of scrimmage but it sailed through the uprights and the score was 35-10.
The teams traded possessions again without scoring. With 12:08 remaining in the game UW-W took over
at their own 43. The Warhawks used 14 plays and 7:32 minutes to score their sixth and final touchdown
of the game, this time a 10 yard rushing score by Desmin Ward (Milwaukee/Hamilton).
River Falls punted after three plays and UW-W took over with 2:26 left in the game. On their first play of
the drive UW-W coughed it up and the Falcons recovered. The Warhawk defense came through again
forcing a loss of 19 yards for the Falcons before they punted it away. UW-W took a knee to run out the
last :22 seconds of the game and preserved the victory.
Blanchard went 20-29, accounting for 277 yards in the air. Tyler Huber (Mukwonago/North Prairie) was
on the receiving end of eight of those passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns. Coppage led both teams
in rushing yards with 74 on 14 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Jared Kiesow (Horicon/Horicon) led the Warhawks with six total tackles, but Ryan Cortez (Palatine,
IL/Palatine, IL) chipped in five, two for a loss, and Greg Arnold (Big Bend/Mukwonago) tossed in four,
also two for a loss. Zack Cook (Necedah/Necedah) and Mykael Bratchett (Milwaukee/Hope) each
recorded a sack. Cook’s forced a loss of seven yards and Bratchett’s a loss of 16. Noah Timm (Two
Rivers/Two Rivers) picked off one Falcon pass in the third quarter for the only Warhawk interception of
the day.
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