RELEASED:  Saturday, December 8, 2007

UW-Whitewater Earns Third Straight National Title Game Appearance

Whitewater, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Whitewater earned its third straight trip to the NCAA Division III football championship game with a 16-7 victory over University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) at Perkins Stadium on Dec. 8.

The Warhawks (13-1) will face Mount Union College (Ohio) (14-0) for the third consecutive season in the national championship contest in Salem, Va. on Dec. 15.   Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. (eastern) and will be televised live by ESPN.  The Purple Raiders won the previous two championship meetings between the schools by a 35-28 margin in 2005 and a 35-16 spread a year ago.

Against Mary Hardin-Baylor (12-2), UW-Whitewater scored the second time it had the ball, going 73 yards in nine plays.  Quarterback Danny Jones ended the drive at 7:43 with a one-yard quarterback sneak, but the extra-point attempt was blocked.

The Crusaders countered with a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Josh Welch and converted the extra point for a 7-6 advantage with 2:05 left in the first quarter.

The Warhawks took the ensuing kickoff and covered 62 yards in 10 plays.  Jones hit wide receiver Neil Mrkvicka with a 25-yard scoring pass to make it 13-7 at the 13:40 mark in the second quarter.

The score remained the same until the fourth quarter, when UW-Whitewater made it a two-score game with 2:31 remaining.  The Warhawks took the ball on their own 10, and after a three-yard run by Justin Beaver, Jones pulled off his longest run of the season, going 62 yards on a quarterback draw to put UW-Whitewater on the Crusader 25-yard line.  The Crusader defense stiffened, but Jeff Schebler ended the scoring in the contest with a 39-yard field goal and extended the Warhawks’ home winning streak to 25 games.

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