The No. 4 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team tallied 41 first-half points Saturday afternoon on its way to a 46-7 victory against Carthage in a non-conference contest at Perkins Stadium, the team's first game in more than 21 months.
The Warhawks (1-0 overall) rolled up 478 yards of total offense and held the Firebirds to 111 yards, including 24 rushing yards on 36 attempts.
Running back Alex Peete (Ringwood, Ill./Johnsburg) totaled nine carries for 54 yards and four touchdowns, including a 35-yarder to start the scoring just over four minutes into the game. His four scores tied a program record, which he also tied in 2018 at Dubuque.
Quarterback Max Meylor (Mt. Horeb, Wis./Mt. Horeb) finished 12-of-16 through the air with two touchdowns, including a 47-yarder to wide receiver Tyler Holte (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward Central Catholic) midway through the first quarter and an 45-yarder to tight end Michael Berentes (Rock Falls, Ill./Rock Falls) with just over a minute left in the second.
Linebacker Hawk Heffner (Grafton, Wis./Grafton) paced a balanced defensive effort with six tackles. Defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) registered four stops, including one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Linebacker Shane McGrail (Plainfield, Ill./North) also recorded four tackles and one sack, which was a safety early in the third quarter to put UW-W ahead 43-0.
Peete scored on three 1-yard runs at the 11:12, 8:35 and 2:08 marks of the second quarter on his way to tying his school record.
Kicker Matt Maldonado (Montgomery, Ill./Yorkville) knocked a 30-yard field goal through the uprights with 42 seconds to play in the third quarter following a 29-yard punt return by Dain Hudson (Waukesha, Wis./West).
The Warhawks' defense held Carthage (0-1) without a score until the final two minutes of the contest.
Holte finished with three receptions for 94 yards and his touchdown, and wide receiver Derek Kumerow (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) caught four passes for 83 yards, including a highlight-reel catch in good coverage down the left sideline early in the second half.
Running backs Ryan Ponick (Stanley, Wis./Stanley-Boyd), Jaylon Edmonson (Racine, Wis./Case) and Preston Strasburg (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Fort Atkinson) each ran for 25 yards or more.
Prior to the game, the Warhawks recognized their 2020 and 2021 senior classes as part of Senior Day presented by Educators Credit Union. Recognized players from the 2020 class included Lonnie Chambers, Bobby Desherow, Wojciech Gasienica, Kaleb Kaminski, Quinn Meinerz, JT Parish and Connor Sullivan. This year's senior group includes Balanganayi, Berentes, Kumerow, Meylor, Peete, Strasburg, Brandon Ausprung (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine), Ryan Berg (DePere, Wis./DePere), Kyle Gannon (Waukesha, Wis./West), Jacob Katzenberger (Hartford, Wis./Hartford Union), Ethan Kee (Plano, Ill./Plano), Douglas Kosch (Bridgeview, Ill./St. Laurence), Jack Kropke (Minooka, Ill./Minooka), Ryan Liszka (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy), Tommy Matoska (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha Tremper), Mark McGrath (Lisle, Ill./Lisle), Aaron Sturdevant (Burlington, Wis./Burlington), Ryan Wisniewski and Jared Zausch (Saukville, Wis./Ozaukee).
UW-Whitewater visits No. 8 Salisbury (Md.) for a top-10 showdown next Saturday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m. Central Time.
No. 4 UW-Whitewater Starts 2021 With Non-Conference Win
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210904_z7vm.xml
2021
Carthage
7
UW-Whitewater
46
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carthage (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 3 UW-Whitewater (1-0) | 14 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 46 |
Sep 04, 2021