OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh football hosted UW-Platteville at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 24). The Pioneers jumped out to an early 4-score lead before winning Oshkosh's 101st homecoming game, 38-6, in front of a season-high 3,031 fans.
Oshkosh (2-5, 0-4 WIAC) fell to 48-44-9 in its homecoming series and 55-51-4 against Platteville (7-0, 4-0 WIAC) since the programs' first meeting in 1911. The homecoming loss was Oshkosh's first since 2011.
While the Titans converted three of their five fourth-down conversion attempts, the Pioneers, who are ranked second in NCAA Division III by both
D3football.com and the
American Football Coaches Association, converted their sole attempt while adding leads in third-down conversions (7 of 13 to 1 of 12) and time of possession (33:09 to 26:51).
Platteville also held a 421-230 advantage in total offensive yards including a 201-46 deficit in rushing yards.
Demir Ashiru (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) passed for 184 yards on Saturday by completing 15 of 30 passes with one touchdown and an interception. He also paced the Titans' rushing attack with 28 yards on 12 attempts.
His favorite target was
Jackson Brush (Franktown, Colo./Legend), who finished the day with seven catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively,
Ty Adams (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) recorded a team-high five tackles (four solo).
Drew Holzhueter (Cambridge/Cambridge),
Kanaan Jewett (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka),
Cade King (Mountain Home, Idaho/Mountain Home) and
Bryce Manders (Brown Deer/Brown Deer) all sat second with four each.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Platteville scored four times in the second period on an 8-yard rush, passing scores of 30 and 14 yards, and a 2-yard run to take a 28-0 lead headed into the half.
Oshkosh broke up the shutout with 10:07 remaining in the third quarter when Ashiru escaped a series of tackles behind the line of scrimmage to find Brush wide open in the back left corner of the end zone, capping off an 8-play drive that covered 55 yards in 3:51.
Axel Vera Trejo (Appleton/Appleton East) missed the point-after kick to keep the score at 28-6.
The Pioneers added three points in the first play of the fourth quarter and added another seven points on a 2-yard rush while their defense held Oshkosh outside their 30-yard line for the remainder of the contest.
The Titans travel to Whitewater to face the No. 5/4 Warhawks at Perkins Stadium for a Halloween night matchup on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. due to UW-Whitewater also hosting the WIAC Cross Country Championships on campus next Saturday.
Whitewater holds an 82-50-5 lead in the all-time series and has one each of the last five games.
