NAPERVILLE, Ill.- UW-Oshkosh football jumped on North Central College (Ill.) first in Saturday's (Sept. 13) top 25 tilt in Naperville. The defending NCAA Division III champion responded with 45 straight points before the Titans added a fourth quarter touchdown for a final score of 45-14.
 
The Titans (1-1), ranked 16th in the nation by D3football.com and 18th by the American Football Coaches Association, accumulated 228 total yards of offensive including 50 yards rushing and 178 yards in the air and recorded 12 first downs. Oshkosh registered 16.2 yards per completion. The Cardinals (1-0) reached 569 total yards with 293 on the ground and 276 passing yards, averaging eight yards per play and notching 26 first downs.
 
Quentin Keene (Waunakee/Waunakee) completed nine of his 11 passing attempts for 162 yards and a touchdown. In his first game of the season, Cole Warren (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah) connected for a pair of completions with 16 yards.
 
AJ Korth (Menasha/Menasha) led the Titans' rushing effort with 18 passes on three attempts. Three more Titans reached double-digit rushing yards while Kellan Mella (Plymouth/Plymouth) scored on his sole carry.
 
On three catches, Jackson Brush (Franktown, Colo./Legend) registered 57 receiving yards, including a 29-yard touchdown. Keyvon Holloway (Adams/Adams-Friendship) was UW-Oshkosh's second-leading receiver with 43 yards on two receptions.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Kyle Dietzen (Omro/Omro) had 12 tackles (five solo) with a 6-yard sack. Dayshawn Henry (Oshkosh/Oshkosh North) recorded nine tackles with six solo and a tackle-for-loss while Ben Wellhoefer (Omro/Omro) registered 10 tackles, including five solo.
 
Axel Vera Trejo (Appleton/Appleton East) made both of his point-after attempts and John Abernathy (Valdese, N.C./Draughn) averaged 38.1 yards on seven punts.
 
North Central's offense stalled out at its 34-yard line in the opening drive and punted to the Titans at Oshkosh's 25. Keene completed a short pass to Korth at the 31-yard line and Korth ran to the North Central 46 before being brought down. After three consecutive runs, Abernathy punted for the first time.
 
Kyle Dietzen (Omro/Omro) sacked Cardinal quarterback Garret Wilson for a 6-yard loss on third down in the succeeding drive, pinning North Central at their own 8-yard line. Henry blocked the punt and recovered the ball to set the Titans up at the one. Mella dove across the line in the first play of Oshkosh's drive and King made the score 7-0 with a good point-after attempt.
 
North Central ate the rest of the clock in the first quarter and tied the game on a 33-yard pass in the first play of the second period. The Cardinals added another touchdown to go up 14-7 before the Titans recorded a pair of first downs in their second possession of the quarter. Ammiel Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside University HS) and Doug Burson (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) rushed for the first downs, reaching the North Central 32-yard line. An interception gave the ball back to the Cardinals, who scored two plays later. Another Titan interception was followed by a field goal and North Central heading into halftime with a 24-7 lead.
 
UW-Oshkosh managed two first downs in separate drives in the third quarter while North Central tallied a pair of touchdowns and missed a 56-yard field goal attempt. Wellhoefer held North Central up on third down for force a fourth-and-13 field goal attempt from Oshkosh 42.
 
The Titans escaped their half of the field in their first drive of the fourth quarter, however Abernathy had to come out to punt in that drive and the following one, bookending another Cardinal touchdown.
 
North Central committed an offensive holding penalty in the next drive and couldn't get back to the line of scrimmage, punting to Jon Mathieu (Sheboygan Falls/Sheboygan Falls) for a fair catch at the Oshkosh 46. UW-Oshkosh then marched down the field in eight plays and scoring on Brush's 29-yard reception with 2:27 left on the clock. The Cardinals rushed on four plays to wind down the clock and secure the win.
 
The Titans open their home slate next Saturday (Sept. 20), facing NCAA Division II Roosevelt University (Ill.) (1-1) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff. UW-Oshkosh defeated Robert Morris University (Ill.) twice in the mid 2010s before the program was folded into Roosevelt's in 2020.