FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[HScoach]

Winning as much as Mount and UWW have done is a lot tougher than it looks.  You need a good loss every once in a while to properly focus the kids.    Climbing the mountain is tough.  Staying on top is tougher.

[WarhawkDad]

Haven't seen Augustana around lately.
(lots of karma statement)

Your on the wrong board for Augustana.......or maybe your just trying to show how much class you have?

[footballfan413]

A HUGE congrats to the UW-Oshkosh Titans.  They showed that they are a terrific team and have the WIAC 2012 POY for a QB.  I will be rooting for them to go very deep into the play-offs and hope to still watch a WIAC team in the Stagg Bowl in December!  We had a wonderful day at the Perk catching up with dear old friends and  07 WARHAWKS back to celebrate their 5 year anniversary!  As difficult as the loss was, I fully expected it, and appreciate the fact that our play-off run of 7 straight years was ended by a very deserving opponent who earned the win in every facet of the game.  I could have done without the , "overrated," chant at the end of the game, but can't say I blame them, I guess, because it seems we were this year.     Now losing to 4-4  Buffalo State. That game is the one we can look back on with regret.    
   I was asked in the stands. "as a parent of a former player, how would you feel right now if you were Brekke's parents," and the thought was really difficult for me.  I can't even  imagine how devastated I would be for my son to have his senior year go down this path.  I know how fortunate we were to have our son's career end the way it did in 07 and how easily it could have been different and in fact, thought it was going to be a different, the beginning of the 4th quarter, in La Crosse that day.  It is unacceptable to lay the blame at the door of any one player!  Everyone could have run better, blocked better, kicked field goals better, run routes and caught passes better, made better coaching decisions, etc.  Hell, the DEFENSE allowed 28 points for goodness sake!!!  This is football, the ultimate TEAM sport, and every coach and player, from the top to the bottom, has played some part, in the two loses!!  Yes, I said, TWO losses!  In the toughest D-3 conference in the country!!!  I told #65 after the game that he and the boys need to keep this season in context!  This year's seniors have THREE national championship rings in their drawers at home.  Thousands of young men play at this level every year and many never even experience a winning season during their career, much less play on ESPN three times.  And I reminded him, they have two oops, three more games left and as I have always told my children, "you need to finish hard!"  Their reaction to this huge disappointment is also their opportunity to show, what is way more important than their win/loss record, and that is the depth of their team's character.  We, as fans, need to meet the same challenge and remember to appreciate what we have been so privileged to be apart of for the last 7 years!     

[wesleydad]

i can speak to the parent of a senior being replaced.  my son was the qb as a junior and started the season as the qb.  in the 3rd quarter of the first game after leading 16 - 0 at the half the first 2 possessions ended with a fumble by a receiver and a fumble by a running back.  for some reason my son gets removed and never starts again.  the explanation i got from the coach was that it had to do with how he was practicing, not sure what that had to do with the situation at the time but it sounded like an excuse.  as his parent i was angry as would be expected.  he wanted to quit, but i told him that if he quit he would regret it for the rest of his life and that they would have won.  he stuck out the season, played mop when asked and did whatever he needed to deal with it.  what didnt make sense was that they didnt make him a receiver again since he led the conference in receptions as a soph and caught the only TD against you guys in the playoffs.  in the end it is a game and changes get made and all you can do as a parent is to be there for support.  anger and disappointment are normal, but they cant get in the way of keeping it all in perspective.

you guys seem down right now, but the playoffs are not out of the question just yet.  looks like a long shot, but stranger things have happened before.  have met many of you at the stagg and enjoy the conversation with you.  if i dont see you this year i am sure i will see you down the road, keep your chins up, much to be proud of.

[Brian Carroll]

Andy Sires completed 23 of 33 passes as UWL defeated UWS on a picture perfect fall day in La Crosse. Turnovers gave Stout an early 10-0 lead, but the Eagles unleashed a more balanced attack than they had shown to date. Having averaged just over 12 pts a game, the 10 pt deficit seemed a tall hill to climb, but the offense responded with 5 td's and more than 400 yds of offense. Kudos to the team and coaches for weathering the storm and responding. Senior wideout Jake Welch played especially well, and took an endzone pass out of a defender's hands to give the Eagles their first lead at the half. In the second half, the Eagles' blitzing defense largely took the Blue Devils' offense out of the game. Mighty Oshkosh comes to town on Saturday, and La Crosse has played them well in 2 games under coach Dettwiler. Might the Titans be liable to a letdown after an emotional win ?

[02 Warhawk]

Tough game to bet at. Record crowd of 12,318 as well I believe.

I only wish Behrendt would have been able to have played the whole game, might have turned off with different. At least one person wasn't happy with Brekke leaving, some guy stormed out of the stands swearing at Leipold for taking him out and I don't think he came back. QB play was so much better though in the second half, without him I doubt we would have been able to score at all.

Mr. Brekke?

[02 Warhawk]

Well that sucked. But I'm not too surprised, UWO was the better team. I can't complain too much, we had a great run. After making it to the Stagg Bowl in 2005 we beat the best that DIII has to offer 4 out of the next 7 years. Now it's someone else's turn...but just for this season 

My Saturdays in November and December just freed up for the first since 2004. Now what am I going to do??? 

Plenty to be optimistic about from our young players. I really liked what I saw from behrendt. his ability to side step defenders is what this team was missing all season long. Looking forward to him in 2013 and 2104. Same goes for Patteron, the freshman ran hard yesterday.

[voice]

A HUGE congrats to the UW-Oshkosh Titans.  They showed that they are a terrific team and have the WIAC 2012 POY for a QB.  I will be rooting for them to go very deep into the play-offs and hope to still watch a WIAC team in the Stagg Bowl in December!  We had a wonderful day at the Perk catching up with dear old friends and  07 WARHAWKS back to celebrate their 5 year anniversary!  As difficult as the loss was, I fully expected it, and appreciate the fact that our play-off run of 7 straight years was ended by a very deserving opponent who earned the win in every facet of the game.  I could have done without the , "overrated," chant at the end of the game, but can't say I blame them, I guess, because it seems we were this year.     Now losing to 4-4  Buffalo State. That game is the one we can look back on with regret.    
   I was asked in the stands. "as a parent of a former player, how would you feel right now if you were Brekke's parents," and the thought was really difficult for me.  I can't even  imagine how devastated I would be for my son to have his senior year go down this path.  I know how fortunate we were to have our son's career end the way it did in 07 and how easily it could have been different and in fact, thought it was going to be a different, the beginning of the 4th quarter, in La Crosse that day.  It is unacceptable to lay the blame at the door of any one player!  Everyone could have run better, blocked better, kicked field goals better, run routes and caught passes better, made better coaching decisions, etc.  Hell, the DEFENSE allowed 28 points for goodness sake!!!  This is football, the ultimate TEAM sport, and every coach and player, from the top to the bottom, has played some part, in the two loses!!  Yes, I said, TWO losses!  In the toughest D-3 conference in the country!!!  I told #65 after the game that he and the boys need to keep this season in context!  This year's seniors have THREE national championship rings in their drawers at home.  Thousands of young men play at this level every year and many never even experience a winning season during their career, much less play on ESPN three times.  And I reminded him, they have two more games left and as I have always told my children, "you need to finish hard!"  Their reaction to this huge disappointment is also their opportunity to show, what is way more important than their win/loss record, and that is the depth of their team's character.  We, as fans, need to meet the same challenge and remember to appreciate what we have been so privileged to be apart of for the last 7 years!   

Winning as much as Mount and UWW have done is a lot tougher than it looks.  You need a good loss every once in a while to properly focus the kids.    Climbing the mountain is tough.  Staying on top is tougher.

413 and HSCoach - thumbs up on your observations in connection with UWW's loss yesterday to Oshkosh.

I have spent alot of time over the past seven years trying to put into words how difficult putting streaks together such as Whitewater and Mount Union. Expectations are "through the roof" each year and anything less than a return trip to Salem is unacceptable. If Mr. or Mrs. "Average Fan" only knew how diffficult that task is.  HSCoach, from Mount Union country,  is among the most knowledgable D3 football fans in the land. His above comment speaks volumes.

413 - thank you for the comments from your unique perspective as a former player's parent who has lived an breathed Warhawk football for several years.

Since the game ended yesterday, I have struggled to find "the right words" for my next story on the Warhawkfootball.com Newswire.

The sun DID come up this morning which is great news for UWW football fans. Then reading 413 and HSCoach's comments this morning put my prospecive story in a clearer light.

Just a couple of things on my mind... Whitewater still has plenty to play for over the next three weeks.  Oshkosh still needs to finish. If the Titans stumble and WW runs the  table the Hawks could still get a piece of another WIAC title.  For the Hawks - simply look forward, not back. Put together three convicing wins to end the regular season and "let chips fall where they may" when it comes to a potential berth in the playoffs.

[emma17]

413 I agree entirely with you that yesterday's loss was not the fault of any single player and I'm glad you pointed that out.  As the wound is still fresh I'm sure there will be more discussion as to what went wrong.

I do want to add this though-(as a separate post and not in response to yours).  As much as it is appropriate to recongize how hard it must be for Lee Brekke and for Lee's family, I think we are remiss if we don't also recognize that there are 99 other kids on the team, all of whom came to UWW to win playoff games.  I imagine all of them expect that the best players will play.  And all of them have seen many subsititions this year at basically every position, partly because the coaching staff wants to find out who can play.  The one position that wasn't changed was QB- until it was too late.  All of the players had their hopes crushed yesterday, not just Lee Brekke.  This isn't a knock on Lee, he did the best he could- but his pain in losing a starting job should pale in comparison to the pain the players feel if they weren't put in the best position to succeed.     

[thrunt01]

UWEC 17, UWSP 14, from Stevens Point...

Pointers scored with 1:46 left to go, closing to within 3, then recovered an onside kick, with their full three time outs left. But, after a referees' huddle, it was disallowed; the ball didn't go 10 yards... Blugolds took over and then, on a third and 9, after the Pointers had stuffed the 'Golds previous running plays and stopped the clock twice, Joel Sweeney busted off a 12-yard run for a first down to ice it...

Sweeney was again a workhorse this week, with 36 carries for 131 yards and a TD in the third quarter to tie it... Game ball, however, goes to Austin Goetsch, who had 12 catches for 124 yards and a 29-yard TD that put the 'Golds up 14-7 in the 4th quarter...

Pointers led at half 7-0, behind a 12-yard TD pass from Mitch Beau to Theo Maglio in quarter 1... He also caught a 9-yarder to pull the Pointers to within three at the end of the game, setting up the onside kick drama... Maglio head a great game, finishing with 13 catches for 160 yards and two scores...

Ugly stat for UWEC - 8 of 20 on third down... Pointer D played well, preventing the Blugolds from putting points on the board early in four instances: stuffed a 4th-and-6 run from the 22 in 1st quarter; and, all in the second quarter, dodging the bullet on a missed 33-yard field goal; picking off a pass after the Blugolds had driven to the 34; and, with the help of a Blugold penalty which wiped out a TD, on the mulligan play, when the 'Golds opted to go for it rather than kick a FG, prevented the first down, on a 4th and 11 from the 24... FRUSTRATING, if you were a Blugold listenting to the game, with the Pointers taking a 7-0 lead into the locker room at half! 

Pointers also missed a scoring chance, a FG, from 37 early on...Eventual game-winner for UWEC came from 42 away, with about 4 minutes left in the game....

QB stats were similar - Austin Neu was 22-34 for 250 yards and a TD; Mitch Beau had a pair of TD passes, with 247 yards, completing 24-39 for the Pointers... 'Golds outgained them 165-53 on the ground and were able to rush it 55 times, helping them control the clock for 38:07 vs. Point's 21:53 TOP...

Next week: EC (3-4, 3-1) will host Platteville (5-2, 2-2), while Point (1-6, 0-4) hosts Whitewater (5-2, 3-1)....

If my memory serves me correctly this means UWSP has to UWW after BOTH of the Warhawks losses. I feel bad for the pointers.

[Raider 68]

Having had many conversations with the Warhawk faithful over the past years, all of you have supported the Warhawks always. The strength of the program is not always wins and a occasional loss, it is how everyone deals with it. The Warhawks will always be one of the premier teams in D3, but there are times when another team has a better day.

The key is looking forward and the Warhawk faithful will do that.

02, you can always route for the other purple team in the playoffs, if they get there!

[02 Warhawk]

413 I agree entirely with you that yesterday's loss was not the fault of any single player and I'm glad you pointed that out.  As the wound is still fresh I'm sure there will be more discussion as to what went wrong.

I do want to add this though-(as a separate post and not in response to yours).  As much as it is appropriate to recongize how hard it must be for Lee Brekke and for Lee's family, I think we are remiss if we don't also recognize that there are 99 other kids on the team, all of whom came to UWW to win playoff games.  I imagine all of them expect that the best players will play.  And all of them have seen many subsititions this year at basically every position, partly because the coaching staff wants to find out who can play.  The one position that wasn't changed was QB- until it was too late.  All of the players had their hopes crushed yesterday, not just Lee Brekke.  This isn't a knock on Lee, he did the best he could- but his pain in losing a starting job should pale in comparison to the pain the players feel if they weren't put in the best position to succeed.   

Maybe...but losing ur job while being team captain. That can't be easy. How often do u see that in any sport?

[desertcat1]

02, you can always route for the other purple team in the playoffs, if they get there!

there is more than one good purple team still undefeated in the west to pull for too?

Go Cats
Go BIG D

[roocru]

02, you can always route for the other purple team in the playoffs, if they get there!

there is more than one good purple team still undefeated in the west to pull for too?

Go Cats
Go BIG D

Or we could root for the third purple undefeated team from the south region. 

Go Cru!

[retagent]

...or another purple team not that far west.