OSHKOSH, Wis.- The lead changed hands twice in the last two minutes of UW-Oshkosh's thrilling WIAC-opening 21-17 win over UW-River Falls on Saturday (Oct. 4). The go-ahead score was a 7-yard pass from Quentin Keene (Waunakee/Waunakee) to Clayton Schwalbe (Waukesha/Waukesha North) with 10 seconds left on the clock.
 
The top-25 matchup between the No. 15/17 Titans (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) and the No. 11/12 Falcons (3-1, 0-1 WIAC) was an uncharacteristically low scoring affair for teams that entered Saturday's contest at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium averaging 27.7 and 56.3 points per game, respectively. The last time Oshkosh held River Falls to less than 20 points was a 48-14 win in River Falls on September 29, 2018.
 
The Falcons eclipsed over 400 offensive yards with 196 rushing yards and 219 passing yards against the Titans' 335 yards (168 rushing, 167 passing), tallying 27 first downs against Oshkosh's 15. However, they only scored a pair of touchdowns and kicked one field goal while the Titans scored on two Ben Vallafskey (Appleton/Appleton West) rushing touchdowns and Schwalbe's receiving touchdown.
 
Quentin Keene (Waunakee/Waunakee) completed 14 of his 27 passing attempts for 167 yards including a long of 43 yards and a touchdown.
 
For the second straight week and in his second game as a Titan, Vallafskey scored a touchdown and recorded over 100 rushing yards with a 114-yard, two-touchdown effort on 17 attempts. His longest rush was a 51-yard score in the second quarter. AJ Korth (Menasha/Menasha) was Oshkosh's second leading rusher with 46 yards on six attempts.
 
Londyn Little (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) caught four passes for a team best 60 yards while Schwalbe scored on one of his two receptions that totaled 10 yards.
 
Kyle Dietzen (Omro/Omro) had another banner day in defense for UW-Oshkosh, totaling 15 tackles (four solo). He was followed by Kenny Satori's (Denmark/Denmark) 10 tackles (four solo), including 2.5 for-loss. Jax Rataczak (Randolph/Randolph) and Cam Finerty (Milwaukee/Marquette University HS) each sacked Falcon quarterback Kaleb Blaha once while Trevor Bahrs (Evansville/Evansville) forced and recovered a fumble and both Ben Wellhoefer (Omro/Omro) and Taye Derrico (Appleton/Appleton East) intercepted him once each.
 
In the defensive battle, John Abernathy (Valdese, N.C./Draughn) punted seven times for 286 yards, averaging 40.9 yards and setting the ball down inside the 20-yard line once and punting more than 50 yards twice.
 
Axel Vera Trejo (Appleton/Appleton East) converted all three of his extra point attempts.
 
After Oshkosh punted on their first possession of the game, UW-River Falls worked its way across the 50 before stalling out and turning the ball over on downs. Following another Abernathy punt, the Falcons marched down the field in 15 plays, eventually scoring on a 14-yard pass three plays into the second quarter.
 
Korth and Vallafskey rushed for 39 and 23 yards in back-to-back plays during UW-Oshkosh's succeeding drive to bring the line of scrimmage to UW-River Falls' 13-yard line. After a 1-yard loss, Vallafskey tied the score at 7-7, skirting past the defenders on the left sideline.
 
 
Following another unsuccessful drive by the Falcons and a kick catch interference call when Jackson Brush (Franktown, Colo./Legend) was called for a fair catch on the punt, the Titans took possession on their 35-yard line. River Falls forced a quick three-and-out to regain possession but didn't score in their drive either.
 
The teams traded punts once more and Oshkosh claimed the ball at their 40 after a short punt. The Titans reached third-and-1 to start their sixth possession and followed a called timeout by River Falls by handing the ball to Vallafskey. He found a gap in the line and dashed 51 yards to the end zone with 30 seconds remaining in the half.
 
During halftime, the 51st class of the UW-Oshkosh Athletics Hall of Fame was recognized ahead of Sunday's (Oct. 5) induction ceremony.
 
River Falls opened the second half with the ball and after 36 yards on nine plays, decreased the deficit to 14-10 with a 37-yard field goal.
 
The Falcons blocked Abernathy's punt in the next drive, but Derrico halted their progression with his first interception of the year after two plays two give Oshkosh possession. Wellhoefer mirrored Derrico in River Falls' next drive after another punt, jumping in front of a Blaha pass on the third play of the drive. The Titans ran five plays across the rest of the third quarter but stalled out and had to punt 14 seconds into the fourth.
 
In the following drive, River Falls looked to reclaim the lead, marching down to the Oshkosh 21-yard line, but Kenny Satori (Denmark/Denmark) and Kellen Wright (West Salem/West Salem) stopped a Blaha rush for a 1-yard loss on fourth down.
 
After Abernathy punted to the River Falls 8-yard line, the Falcons ate 3:48 of the clock by advancing 92 yards on 14 plays, eventually crossing the goal line to take a 17-14 lead with 1:21 remaining.
 
The Titans started their final drive on their 34-yard line and reached the 37 before calling a timeout. Coming out of the break, Keene threw a 43-yard pass to Little, who had to put his hand up to block the sun out of his eyes right before hauling the ball in at River Falls' 20. He connected with Jon Mathieu (Sheboygan Falls/Sheboygan Falls) for a 13-yard play before putting an off-balance pass in Schwalbe's hands in the center of the end zone with 10 seconds remaining.
 
UW-River Falls tried to lateral the ball its way to score from its 25-yard line, but Trevor Bahrs (Evansville/Evansville) punched the ball out and grabbed it, sealing the win and nearly scoring before being tackled one yard away from the end zone.
 
The Titans will head to UW-Stout (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) next Saturday (Oct. 4) to begin their road conference schedule. The Blue Devils kicked off WIAC play with a 42-17 victory over UW-Eau Claire (3-1, 0-1 WIAC) in the programs' annual "War on 94".