Nate Wara (So. • Oshkosh) threw a career-high five touchdown passes, while Garrie Fox (Jr. • Madison) and Juston Wara (Sr. • Oshkosh) each caught two, as the UW-Oshkosh football team posted a 41-14 triumph over UW-Platteville on Saturday (Oct. 23) at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
The Titans (4-3/3-1 WIAC) tallied the final 27 points of the contest to pull away from a 14-14 tie during the second quarter. UW-Oshkosh outgained the Pioneers, 521 yards to 277, as it won the time of possession (35:17) for the first time this year. Nate Wara accounted for 293 passing yards and 72 rushing yards, with Fox marking 103 yards on seven catches.
After UW-Platteville (4-2/2-2 WIAC) notched 14 straight points to pull even, the Titans responded with an 11-play scoring drive. Juston Wara capped it off with a nine-yard score to take the lead for good 4:40 before halftime.
Late in the third period, UW-Oshkosh put together a productive 44-yard possession that ended with Fox's 15-yard touchdown. He fully extended to grab the ball as he soared through the end zone to make it 28-14. A few minutes later, Fox contributed a 29-yard reception to set up Justin Budiac's (Jr. • Mukwonago) one-yard touchdown run.
The Titans' final score of the day was a five-yard fade pattern to Juston Wara. That 85-yard march utilized 10 snaps, including a 20-yard pass to Juston Wara, a 20-yard throw to Ben Zill (Sr. • New Franken) and a 24-yard run by Nate Wara. UW-Oshkosh's starting quarterback hit on 27-of-36 passes, while backup Nick Olla (Fr. • Kewaskum) threw for 55 yards on a double pass in the second quarter.
Paul Coburn (Sr. • Sussex) began the game's opening drive with a catch for 22 yards. The Titans then used a Wara-to-Coburn hookup for the 16-yard touchdown three minutes into play. On their next trip, Matt Haass (Sr. • Brownsville) flipped a fake field goal pass to pick up seven yards on 4th-and-5. Fox snatched a one-yard touchdown along the sideline to cap that drive and take a 14-0 lead late in the opening quarter.
UW-Platteville fought back with two touchdowns in less than five minutes. Nick Anderson found Jeff Bracken open for a 14-yard score to finish a 66-yard drive in quarter one. During the second period, Anderson recorded back-to-back completions of 20 yards to Bracken and Joe Burkeland. Lee Vlasak then punched in a two-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 11:11 on the clock.
Charlie Weissman (Jr. • Colgate) was UW-Oshkosh's second-leading receiver with five catches (78 yards) and runner with 43 yards. Coburn added five grabs for 69 yards as the Titans converted 8-of-17 third downs. UW-Oshkosh also held margins of 31-14 in first downs and 92-51 in offensive plays.
The Pioneers were successful on 1-of-8 third downs. Vlasak compiled 105 yards on 23 rushing attempts, while Anderson totaled 120 yards on 13-of-18 passes. In the receiving department, Bracken topped his squad with three catches for 40 yards.
UW-Oshkosh got a team-high nine tackles from Logan Heyden (Sr. • Kenosha), but the Pioneers had four players in double figures. Nick Snyder racked up 15 stops, in addition to 12 from Brian Snyder, 11 by Dave Daino and 10 courtesy of David Rizzio. UW-Platteville recorded the game's three sacks, while the Titans' Nate Heard (Sr. • Milwaukee) booked an interception and fumble recovery for the contest's two turnovers.
A night game looms on Oct. 30 when UW-Oshkosh visits UW-Eau Claire (3-4/1-3 WIAC).