:quality(70):focal(937x582:947x592)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/67VRQP2YXJFUBOASAZDGMPDZSU.jpg)
When Wisconsin-Whitewater lost its season-opening football game Sept. 3 at St. John’s in Minnesota, the result was historic.
The Warhawks, who have won six NCAA Division III titles, had not lost a nonconference game since 2017 before stumbling, 24-10, in their opener.
Whitewater responded last weekend by putting some history behind, knocking off unanimous No. 1 and defending national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor, 28-24, in the final seconds at Perkins Stadium in Whitewater.
“It was letting the past be the past,” Huntley graduate Justin Allen, a junior defensive end, said of the focus Whitewater exhibited. “It’s always nice getting that confidence back after a little bit of a rocky start and knowing that we’re still as confident offensively and defensively as we’ve been the last few years.”
Allen collected a sack on third down just before halftime that forced Mary Hardin-Baylor to kick a field goal and allowed Whitewater to maintain the lead, 14-10.
“It was a pretty huge play,” Allen said. “If they get that first down, they get a chance to tie the game.”
While Allen was affecting the quarterback, fellow Huntley grad Matt Burba, a sophomore defensive tackle, helped keep the Crusaders to only 122 total rushing yards on 30 carries.
“We are a stop-the-run defense first,” said Burba, who had four tackles in the win. “We try to make teams one-dimensional.”
Mary Hardin-Baylor – which knocked Whitewater out of the playoffs last season – managed only 214 yards through the air against a stingy Whitewater secondary. That group features Prairie Ridge grad Kyle Koelblinger, a sophomore safety who had a team-high six tackles, an interception and a forced fumble against St. John’s.
“Having Kyle back there is huge,” Burba said. “He’s an absolute stud.”
Whitewater, which is ranked fourth by D3Football.com this week, still has plenty of goals to chase after the upset win. Those include a potential 39th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and an 11th appearance in the Stagg Bowl, D-III’s title game.
“We don’t like to look too far ahead,” Burba said. “Every week is a new version – a better version – of us.”
Flying high at Lewis: Crystal Lake South grad Cameron Sengstock, a senior forward at Lewis University in Romeoville, was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week on Monday.
In a 2-1 victory Sunday against Missouri-St. Louis, Sengstock scored in the fourth minute, then knocked in the game-winning goal in the 89th minute in the GLVC opener.
Sengstock, who started 13 times last season, leads Lewis (3-2) with four goals and eight points this fall. She has started every game thus far for the Flyers and also leads the team in minutes and shots on goal.
Lewis has outshot opponents 81-43 this season and received contributions from freshman defender Kenedi Jones of Cary-Grove (five starts, 348 minutes). Freshman midfielder Alejandra Melo (Dundee-Crown) and sophomore defender Jordyn Bigos (Crystal Lake South) have appeared in five and four games, respectively.
Raby roars at Carroll: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honored Dundee-Crown grad Josh Raby as its offensive player of the week in football Monday.
Raby, a junior quarterback at Carroll University, connected on 21 of 27 pass attempts for 264 yards and five touchdowns in a 54-7 victory last weekend against Wisconsin Lutheran. Raby distributed completions to seven different receivers and threw touchdown passes to four different teammates.
Sophomore running back Nick Legnaioli (Richmond-Burton) led Carroll (1-0) in the victory with 71 yards rushing on 13 carries. He rushed for a touchdown and caught one pass for 3 yards. Junior wide receiver Josh Hill (Jacobs) caught three passes for 27 yards. On defense, fellow Jacobs grad Helios Martinez, a junior defensive end, had four tackles and a sack.
Hot start at Tennessee: Cary-Grove grad Jenna Stayart scored a goal and recorded her first career assist Sunday in the University of Tennessee’s 6-0 soccer victory against Queens University of Charlotte.
Stayart, a redshirt freshman midfielder, has logged nine shots for the Volunteers, who finished their nonconference schedule with a 4-2-1 record. Stayart’s first career goal came in the 75th minute of the Vols’ 4-0 victory Aug. 31 against Bowling Green.
QB collects honor at Augie: Jacobs grad Cole Bhardwaj earned CCIW offensive player of the week honors Sept. 5 after throwing for three touchdowns in Augustana College’s season-opening 34-28 win against Rhodes.
Bhardwaj completed 18 of 35 passes for 248 yards, including a 54-yard scoring pass in the first quarter. Six completions and one of Bhardwaj’s TD passes went to junior wide receiver Ian Gorken of Crystal Lake South, who piled up 83 yards in the game.
Freshman running back Ben Ludlum (Jacobs) rushed for 25 yards, while junior linebacker Rukkus Hunkins (Huntley) collected six tackles and one tackle for loss in the victory.
• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.