No. 5 Titans pull away from No. 12 Pioneers, 63-28

PLATTEVILLE - Fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh scored early and often en route to a 63-28 victory over 12^th-ranked UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

Sophomore running back Dylan Hecker accounted for 159 yards of offense and four total touchdowns to lead the Titans to victory. He ran for a pair of short touchdowns and threw another in the first quarter, and later caught a 46-yard TD pass in the second half.

UW-Oshkosh improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the WIAC with the win, and took complete control in the race for this year's conference title after beating top-ranked UW-Whitewater, 10-7 just two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the Pioneers fell to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the WIAC.

UW-Platteville took an early 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the game on a 19-yard pass from senior quarterback Tom Kelly (Chicago, Ill.) to junior Dan Arnold (Fargo, N.D.). Arnold added an 18-yard TD catch with 32 seconds left in the first half to cut the Oshkosh lead to 35-14, but it wasn't enough, as the Pioneer defense simply couldn't contain the Titans in the first half.

The high-powered Oshkosh offense scored four times in the first quarter then added a fifth TD five minutes into the second period to take a commanding 35-7 lead.

The Titans piled up 639 yards of offense in the win, led by 60 yards rushing from Hecker. The sophomore from Winneconne also caught two passes for 57 yards, and tossed a 41-yard TD pass to senior Zach Kasuboski on UW-Oshkosh's first drive to tie the game at 7-7.

Kasuboski hauled in a 69-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Brett Kasper on Oshkosh's next drive to make it 14-7 and the Titans never trailed again. Kasuboski finished with six receptions for 162 yards and a pair of TDs.

UWO then recovered an onside kick and took over at the UW-Platteville 35. Six plays later Hecker plowed in from five yards out to make it 21-7. Hecker added a 3-yard TD run on UWO's next drive to make it 28-7.

Beau Ash's 18-yard touchdown run with 10:03 left in the half pushed the lead to 35-7.  

The Pioneers fought back and made a second-half push, twice pulling within two scores.

Junior Kyle Whitman (Round Lake, Ill.) scored from a yard out four minutes into the third quarter to make it 35-21.

Dan Arnold's third TD catch of the day, a 54-yard bomb from Kelly, made it 42-28 with 7:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Arnold finished the day with nine catches for 199 yards and three TDs. Kelly completed 20 of 42 passes for 324 yards and three scores, but was also intercepted twice.

Hecker's 46-yard touchdown catch made it a three score game at 49-28 late in the third and Oshkosh freshman Cole Yoder delivered the knockout blow when he returned a Kelly interception 23 yards for a touchdown to make it 56-28 with 13:21 left in the game.

Kasper tossed a 77-yard touchdown pass to Joe Sommers three minutes later to complete the scoring. Kasper completed 21 of 33 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns.

Junior wide receiver Quinn Buschbacher (Sugar Grove, Ill.) played halfback for the Pioneers during the second half and finished with a team-high 61 yards on 12 carries. Senior Ryan Fish (Madison, Wis.) added 42 yards on eight carries.

Senior linebacker Andrew Belken (East Dubuque, Ill.) led the Pioneer defense with 15 total tackles. Sophomore Marty McGrail (Plainfield, Ill.) was in on 10 stops.

The Pioneers return to action Saturday at home with a Halloween matchup against UW-Stout. The Blue Devils (2-5, 1-3 WIAC) are coming off a 54-48 loss to UW-River Falls (5-2, 3-1). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Written by: Jason Nihles, Sports Information Assistant