WHITEWATER – The No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team tallied 21 points in the fourth quarter to come back from 17 down Saturday and defeat fifth-ranked Wartburg 37-33 in a wild NCAA Division III Playoffs semifinal contest at Perkins Stadium.
By completing their largest comeback victory since 2007, the Warhawks (13-0 overall) advance to next Saturday's semifinals, where they'll take on No. 10 Linfield (Ore.) in a rematch of the 2013 quarterfinals.
Time and location of next Saturday's game is to be announced.
"It was an exciting football game, wasn't it?" UW-Whitewater Head Coach Lance Leipold said. "It was three quarters one way, and a fourth quarter to remember for us."
Trailing 33-16 through three quarters, UW-Whitewater narrowed its deficit to two possessions on the second play of the fourth as junior running back Dennis Moore cut an outside run back to the inside and went untouched 57 yards to make it 33-23 with 14:44 on the clock.
"He made a couple of guys miss, and it was exactly what we needed," senior quarterback Matt Behrendt said. "It was a game-changer. One play."
On the second play of the next drive, the Knights (12-1) fumbled it back to the Warhawks on a botched handoff at the Wartburg 27-yard line. Senior defensive back Zach Nellis recovered to help swing the game for the Warhawks.
"(Assistant) coach (Brian Borland) called the best blitz ever, which is a safety blitz," Nellis said. "I was coming down, I timed it up and ran right into the hole. The guy dropped the ball on the handoff and it was on the ground. I just huddled around it, and hung on for dear life."
One play after Behrendt stretched for a first down run on third and one, Behrendt connected with senior tight end Derric Junakin, who leaped inside the near pile-on for a 16-yard touchdown to make it 33-30 with 12:52 left.
Following a punt by the Knights, Moore and Behrendt led UW-Whitewater 89 yards on just eight plays as senior wide receiver Justin Howard took a strike from Behrendt at the goal line and scampered in for a touchdown to give the Warhawks a four-point lead with 6:10 remaining.
UW-Whitewater forced a Wartburg punt on the ensuing drive, but was thwarted in Knights territory on the next drive.
Starting from their own 20-yard line with 1:49 on the clock, the Knights threw four incomplete passes to turn it back over on downs.
From there, the Warhawks knelt out the clock for their college football-leading 30th consecutive win.
Behrendt tossed four touchdown passes and finished with a season-high 345 passing yards. Senior wide receiver Jake Kumerow totaled six receptions for 146 yards and a score, while Howard posted seven receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns for his third multi-touchdown game in the last five.
For the second straight week, Moore collected a career high in rushing yards, tallying 122 on just 12 carries. Junior running back Jordan Ratliffe rushed for 80 yards on 12 attempts.
Senior defensive back Brady Grayvold paced a balanced defensive effort with nine tackles and two pass breakups, and was one of seven UW-Whitewater players with five or more stops. Junior defensive back Ryan Winske was next with eight tackles and a pass breakup.
Sophomore defensive lineman Brandon Tamsett led the unit up front with six tackles, including one for a loss.
Wartburg drove 75 yards on six plays in just 57 seconds to take a 7-0 lead early in the game. It marked just the second time this season UW-Whitewater allowed a scoring drive to open the game.
After a punt by the Warhawks, the Knights made it 10-0 with a 29-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 80-yard drive.
The Warhawks responded quickly as Howard returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards to the Wartburg 24-yard line. From there, Howard finished the drive with an eight-yard toss from Behrendt to make it 10-6 with 6:54 left in the first quarter.
The Knights tallied again on the next drive with another field goal to take a seven-point lead at the 3:17 mark of the period and equal the number of points UW-Whitewater had allowed in its previous 12 games combined in the first quarter.
Wartburg tacked on two more field goals before the Warhawks found the end zone again thanks to a six-play, 97-yard drive ended by a 10-yard strike from Behrendt to Kumerow with 3:48 remaining in the second quarter. Long receptions by Howard and freshman wide receiver Ricky Finco helped set up the scoring play.
Wartburg ended the first half with 332 yards – more than UW-Whitewater had allowed in the entire game in all but three contests this season.
"They were driving the ball on us and getting tons of yards," Nellis said. "In the second half, we finally got it going and made some stops that were key."
UW-Whitewater opened the third quarter with a 31-yard field goal by freshman Will Meyer to cut its deficit to 19-16 with 12:19 on the clock.
The Knights sandwiched a pair of touchdowns around a fourth-down stop to take a 33-16 advantage with 4:08 left in the quarter.
The two teams exchanged punts before the Warhawks began their comeback with a drive starting on the last play of the third.