ALMA, Mich.- UW-Oshkosh football took the lead over Alma College (Mich.) in the second quarter of Saturday's (Sept. 12) game at the Scots' Bahlke Field and responded to a late lead change with a field goal to secure its first win of the 2026 season.
Oshkosh (1-1), which is receiving votes in the
American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll, opened the scoring with a field goal and followed an Alma (0-2) touchdown with two of its own in the second period. The Scots cut the lead to 17-14 with a pick-six in the third quarter, but the Titans added another field goal to push the lead to 20-14. Alma reclaimed the lead for the first time since the end of the first quarter when it scored a touchdown with 6:05 left in the game, but Oshkosh marched down the field again, converted another field goal attempt, and stopped the Scots on fourth down to seal the win.
The Titans are now 3-0 all time against the Scots. They won the 2012 meeting in Alma by a score of 70-9 and the 2013 return trip in Oshkosh, 56-3.
Oshkosh totaled 430 offensive yards with 164 on the ground and 266 through the air, which added up to 24 offensive first downs. The Titans added an additional two first downs on Scots penalties. Titan rushers averaged 4.2 yards per carry while quarterback
Demir Ashiru (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) averaged 7.6 yards per pass.
Oshkosh owned the ball for more than 10 minutes more than Alma's 24 minutes, took advantage of all three trips to the red zone and made 3 of 4 field goals against the Scots' 0-for-2.
Alma committed four penalties for 40 yards against Oshkosh's 10 penalties for 58 yards.
Ashiru completed 15 of his 35 passing attempts for 266 yards, threw for two touchdowns, and rushed eight more times for 28 yards. He also threw two interceptions, one of which immediately went for six points for Alma.
Ben Vallafskey (Appleton/Appleton West) was Oshkosh's rushing leader, netting 82 yards on 18 carries. He also caught two passes for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Ammiel Jackson (Milwaukee/Riverside University HS) was the next-highest rusher with 51 yards on five rushes.
Jackson Brush (Franktown, Colo./Legend) paced the Titans' receiving corps by becoming the first to surpass the century receiving yards mark, catching five passes for 107 yards.
LJ Kerr (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) caught just one ball on Saturday and recorded both 16 yards and a touchdown in his first game in black and gold.
Defensively,
Dayshawn Henry (Oshkosh/Oshkosh North) led Oshkosh with 11 tackles (four solo) and 1.5 sacks for seven yards.
Bryce Manders (Brown Deer/Brown Deer) followed with seven tackles (five solo) and a full sack for himself while
Jake Shutter (Plymouth/Plymouth) had the final half sack to go with six total tackles (three solo).
John Abernathy (Valdese, N.C./Draughn) punted four times for 139 yards, averaging 34.8 yards per try. He also sat one down for a fair catch at Alma's 10-yard line.
Cooper Winslow (Montgomery, Ill./St. Francis), who made his debut on a kickoff against Linfield University (Ore.) on Sept. 5, connected on both of his point-after attempts in Alma and went 3-for-4 on field goals. He made his 21-, 24- and 39-yard attempts and missed his 40-yard try.
The teams traded punts at the beginning of the game in front of the 1,875 fans that filed into Bahlke Field before the Titans second drive stalled at the Scots' 4-yard line, which set up Winslow's 21-yarder that handed Oshkosh its first lead.
After Alma ended its 75-yard drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown late in the first quarter, the Titans responded when Ashiru connected for a pass to Vallafskey at the Alma 20 and Vallafskey dashed the rest of the way to the end zone.
Manders stopped a 4th-and-1 try at Oshkosh's 42 to get possession back to Oshkosh with 12:17 remaining in the half. It took Oshkosh five plays to cover the distance and create a 17-7 lead after Ashiru found Kerr open in the end zone.
Two punts and two missed field goals were the results of the remaining four full drives before halftime. When the Scots tried a 24-yard field goal at 1:55, Shutter came off the edge and blocked the ball to retain the 10-point edge.
Even after an onside attempt to open the third quarter resulted in favorable field position for the Scots', they did not capitalize and missed a 49-yard field goal attempt that gave the Titans the ball at their 32. Two more punts followed and the score remained 17-7 until Robert Hock jumped in front of Ashiru's throw and returned the ball 44 yards for a touchdown.
A quick three-and-out turned into three points when Alma returned muffed Abernathy's punt and
Nate Black (Whitewater/Whitewater) recovered the ball at the 34. A penalty moved the line of scrimmage to the Alma 19.
Winslow made his 24-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the third quarter.
The score sat at 20-14 until nearly 10 minutes was played in the final period. After Ashiru threw his second interception of the game, Scots took the lead back with 5:58 on the clock on a 25-yard touchdown.
The Titans used up the clock enough to reach the 2-minute warning in their next drive and set up Winslow for a successful 39-yard field goal at 1:43.
Oshkosh's defense came up big down the stretch, forcing Alma to use a timeout and turn the ball over on downs after Henry stopped the fourth-down attempt with a 6-yard tackle-for-loss.
Both of Alma's losses so far this season came at the hands of WIAC programs. UW-Eau Claire hosted the Scots at Carson Park on Sept. 5 and won, 23-15.
The Titans remain on the road next week, traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to face Coe College (1-1) at 1 p.m. on Sept. 19. The Kohawks are ranked 21st in Division III by both
D3football.com and the AFCA. The meeting will be the first in the programs' long histories.
