Posted November 8, 2008
UW-Platteville recorded three signficant "firsts" in beating UW-Oshkosh 28-0 Saturday at J.J. Keller Field in Titan Stadium.
*The Pioneers posted back-to-back Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victories for the first time since 2001;
*UWP recorded its first consecutive shutouts since 1972; and
*Platteville won two straight league games by shutouts for the first time since 1950.
Quarterback Joe Burkeland ran for one score and passed for two more, and the Pioneer defense limited the Titans to 140 yards, made five sacks and forced four turnovers in the win.
UWP forced three first-half turnovers, including a fumble recovery by Randy Langer on the Titan 19 on the game's second play. Three Mike Genslinger runs brought the ball into the end zone, with the scoring play from a yard out. Quincy Hudson intercepted his fifth pass of the season--the most by a Pioneer in more than a decade--and Brandon Willger bounced on a second-quarter fumble.
The Pioneers led 7-0 at the half, the exploded for 21 third-quarter points. Burkeland rushed for eight yards for one score, and completed TD passes of 33 passes to Nick Grosso and 14 yards to Tyson Droessler.
The defense made the lead--and shutout--hold up, although it took a gutty goal-line stand for the whitewash. UWO's Charlie Weissman returned a punt 65 yards to the Pioneer six, but two rushes and an incomplete pass forced fourth down, and Tim Stephenson sacked quarterback Dieter Juedes for an 11-yard loss.
Stephenson was credited with 3.5 sacks, and David Akey had 1.5, while Willger and Langer each had half a sack. Brian Snyder added an interception in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, Burkeland competed 14 of 16 passes for 187 yards, including 6 for 76 yards to Grosso. Genslinger rushed for a game-high 85 yards on 24 carries.
Jeremy Roach rushed 14 times for 70 yards, and caught four passes for 54 yards to lead the Titans, who are now 3-5 overall and 1-5 in the WIAC. Coach Mike Emendorfer's Pioneers improved to 4-5, 2-4.
The Pioneers, who shut out UW-River Falls 7-0 last week, beat UW-La Crosse 39-26 and UW-Whitewater 27-26 in 2001 for back-to-back wins. The last consecutive shutouts came against Iowa Wesleyan (38-0) and UW-Stevens Point (51-0) to begin the 1972 season. The last time UWP won consecutive league shutouts came during the 1950 season, when the Pioneers beat Milwaukee 7-0, Oshkosh 28-0 and Stevens Point 14-0 under Coach Lester "Butch" Leitl.
UW-Platteville will officially dedicate its field to Coach Leitl Saturday when the Pioneers close the season against UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m. The contest is also the George Chryst Memorial Bowl, named after the late Pioneer Coach, and is Senior Day, when 17 Pioneers will be saluted.
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