12-6 Book to Upload - Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks

John Kelly to Ryley Bailey covered 47 yards to put the ball at Whitewater’s 24, and two plays later Kelly
hit Paul Reit for the 26 yard score with 5:49 left in the first quarter.
Whitewater took the next kickoff and used ten plays, eight rushes by senior tailback Levell Coppage (Oak
Park, IL/Oak Park) and a Blanchard to Coppage pass to consume 5:21. Coppage pushed over from the
two for the tying score with 0:23 in the first.
In the second quarter UW-W mounted another drive, this one covering 92 yards in 12 plays, with
Blanchard and Tyler Huber (Mukwonago/North Prairie) connecting with 0:59 left in the half to put
Whitewater in front 14-7.
Platteville made the most of the fleeting time remaining. The Pioneers pulled a play out of the sandlot
(“you’re the bottlecap, and you’re this stick”), Kelly throwing a lateral to running back Chad Roscoe and
Roscoe hitting a wide open Reit for the 35 yard score with just 0:14 left in the half as the teams entered
the lockerroom tied 14-14.
The tie marked the first time UW-W had not led at the intermission since a 7-7 tie at North Central College
in the NCAA III playoff quarterfinals December 4, 2010.
Whitewater opened the second half with a drive that ended with an Eric Kindler
(Germantown/Germantown) field goal -- that may have been a good omen for the Warhawks. Kindler’s
47 yard attempt hit the crossbar and bounced through to put UW-W in front 17-14 at 9:49 in the third.
The Warhawk defense took heart, and stopped Platteville three times for a total of minus two yards as the
Poineers went for it from their 41.
UW-W took over and Kindler converted again, this time from 44 yards with 6:21 in the third for a 20-14
Warhawk lead.
Again Platteville rolled the dice. Facing a third and six at Whitewater’s 32, a penalty on UW-P and two
incomplete passes gave the ball back to UW-W at the 37.
And again, the Warhawk offense made it count. A Blanchard to Jason Ford (Palatine, IL/Fremd) pass
gained 23 yards, and five running plays put the ball in the end zone. Desmin Ward (Milwaukee/Hamilton)
pushed several defenders, and a pile of bodies for the last couple of yards on a 12 yard run at 0:35 in the
third for a 27-14 lead.
The Pioneers moved into Whitewater territory, but for the third time the Whitewater defense held UW-P on
third and fourth down.
And yet again, Whitewater’s offense made the most of the opportunity. Despite three penalties, UW-W’s
offense managed to score, or maybe it was the unique ability of Coppage. On the scoring play Coppage
started to the left, then reversed his field, received a block from Blanchard, and out -ran the Platteville
defense for 41 yards to end the drive, 34-14.
Whitewater gained 270 yards on the ground, averaging 5.6 yards per rush. Coppage, a three time All-
American, rushed 30 times for 168 yards, his biggest output of the season. Coppage, with 6,019 yards in
his career, became just the second back in WIAC history to pass 6,000. Whitewater’s Justin Beaver
61