Whitewater rallies past Wartburg in playoffs

WHITEWATER, Wis. - A quarter away from shocking the division, Wartburg crumbled and top-ranked Wis.-Whitewater showed why it's the defending NCAA Division III champion.

The Warhawks (13-0) scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to extend the nation's longest college football winning streak to 30 games and end fifth-ranked Wartburg's season, 37-33.

The Knights (12-1) showed they belonged in their second quarterfinal appearance, racking up 500 yards of offense against a D-III powerhouse that had given up more than 400 only once this season.

'It doesn't feel real good right now,” said wide receiver Taylor Jacobsmeier, who used a red-shirt to be part of a team that set a school record for victories. 'We didn't come up here to fight and then lose. We didn't come up here to have a good team on the ropes.”

Wartburg quarterback Logan Schrader was injured in the fourth quarter but missed only a few plays, re-entering the game with 6:10 to go and the Knights trailing 37-33.

But the offense, playing without injured preseason All-American left tackle Chris Brinkmeier for the second half, had its first three-and-out, then a turnover on four downs at their 20-yard line.

Wis.-Whitewater kneeled out the rest of the clock and continued Coach Lance Leipold's tenure, advancing to the semifinals to host No. 10 Linfield (11-1) this Saturday.

Leipold, who was announced Monday as the coach at Division I Buffalo, gave his players a message while facing the program's biggest deficit in a game since 2007, 33-16 to begin the final quarter.

'He got us all real tight and looked me in the eye,” said quarterback Matt Behrendt, 'and said, ‘you know what guys? Something good is going to go our way right now.'”

He was right. Dennis Moore busted a career-long 57-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Then Schrader and running back Brandon Domeyer mishandled an exchange, Zach Nellis recovered the fumble, and Behrendt lobbed a 16-yard TD pass to tight end to tight end Derric Junakin to make it 33-30 with 12:52 left.

Behrendt gave the Warhawks their first lead with a 23-yard pass to Justin Howard with 6:10 to go. He was 21 of 32 for 345 yards and four touchdowns. The Warhawks produced 322 of their 575 yards in the fourth quarter.

'I think everybody can see why they've accomplished what they've accomplished with the way they responded,” Wartburg Coach Rick Willis said.