(In the photo above - The Warhawks seniors pose in front of Carson Park scoreboard letting viewers know the team had just cliched a seventh consecutive WIAC title - Tom Pattison photo)
Eau Claire) – UW-Whitewater put a bow on another Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football title Saturday afternoon in Eau Claire.
The Warhawks defeated UW-Eau Claire, 37-22, to go to 6-0 in the WIAC and 9-0 overall. Whitewater has now won a record seven straight WIAC titles.
Matt Blanchard threw scoring passes of 10 yards to Luke Menzel and 5 yards to Cory Robinson to give the Warhawks a 14-7 lead.
UWW then turned to all-WIAC leading rusher Levell Coppage to maintain the lead.
Coppage finished with 236 yards rushing including a 1-yard scoring run.
“Levell as the workhorse today,” Hawk head coach Lance Leipold tells the Janesville Gazette. “Levell and our line did the job.”
A 65 yard kick return by Steve Morris to open the second half combined with a 15 yard horse collar penalty set up a 1-yard touchdown run to extend the Warhawk lead to 21-7 early in the 3rd quarter.
After UWEC scored on a 49-yard pass play the Warhawks (Eric Kindler) punted out of field goal formation to pin the Blugolds at its own 1-yard line.
Whitewater ended up forcing a safety when a snap in punt formation went over the punter’s head out of the end zone.
Matt Blanchard followed with a 32-yard scoring strike to Tyler Huber to extend the Warhawk lead to 30-14.
“We knew they had a potent offense with the ability to strike quickly,” Leipold said. “We saw that happen. I was real pleased with the way we battled throughout the game.”
The Warhawks were without two starting linebackers and the Blugolds outgained Whitewater 399 to 393 yards.
A key to the win was Whitewater winning the turnover battle. Noah Timm intercepted two Austin Neu passes along with blocking a first half UWEC field goal attempt.
“We’re a little banged up, but we attained our No. 1 goal of winning an outright conference championship,” Leipold said.
Whitewater increased its win streak to 39 consecutive games tying the University of Washington (1908-1914) for the fifth longest streak in the history of college football.
The Warhawks will close the regular season November 12, hosting UW-La Crosse at 1:00 in Perkins Stadium.
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