The Titans’ football team scored a touchdown with just 35 seconds left on the clock to cap off a come-from-behind 23-20 victory against UW-Platteville Saturday at Pioneer Stadium.
The touchdown was the climax of a 12-play, 78-yard drive with running back Jeremy Roach taking the ball into the endzone from four yards out.
The Titans’ offense had four first-half turnovers and trailed the Pioneers 7-17 at halftime.
Head coach Pat Cerroni said that the team was familiar with this situation and stressed that it was not an insurmountable lead, it was just a matter of fixing their errors.
“All season long we have been down at halftime, it was only ten points,” Cerroni said. “We have been in that situation so many times; the thing was that we just never made that many mistakes.”
Freshman quarterback Nate Wara said that he too knew they could overcome the deficit if he just refocused himself and stayed composed.
“I tried to remain calm and keep my poise while coming into the second half by thinking we still have 30 minutes to play, and it’s not over yet.”
The Titans struck back with a 27-yard field goal by Andy Lindsay in the middle of the third quarter to bring the score to 10-17, but gave up a field goal to the Pioneers that again left the Titans down 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Wara ran for a touchdown on the Pioneer goal line early in the quarter, after rushing for a pair of 11-yard gains and a 18-yard pass completion earlier in the drive.
However, Lindsay’s point after attempt was blocked, leaving the Titans behind by four points and in need of a touchdown.
The Titans defense stayed strong and halted a long Pioneer drive that ended with a missed field goal attempt from 38 yards out.
The miss gave the Titans the ball with 4:25 left in the game and the ball at their own 22-yard line, from which the Titans battled their way down the field to get the go-ahead score.
Coach Cerroni said that the team showed him a lot by coming back from an embarrassing first half to get the win.
“I’m just really proud of our players and how they responded to their mistakes,” Cerroni said. “I just knew we were going to come out and figure something out.”
The Titans’ defense played a large part in the team’s victory and gave up their second-lowest amount of total yardage by an opponent this season with 297 yards.
Senior linebacker James Taraboi said that the defense focused all week on rebuilding their confidence and getting back their “swagger”.
“I wanted our defense to get that swagger back that we could stop anyone, and that we are a good defense,” Taraboi said. “During the game I kept on saying ‘keep the swagger going and it will work out in the end’.”
He also told the defense that it was their turn to help the offense out, as the offense has had to deal with defensive shortfalls all season.
“We owe it to the offense to bail them out of a tough situation; they have done it a lot to us,” he said. “About time we return the favor.”
Taraboi, who leads Division III football with 99 tackles, tallied 16 total tackles in the game, 2.5 going for losses, and a sack.
The team also got cornerback Nate Heard back from injury for the game, where he made an immediate impact.
Heard picked off two passes, taking one back 25 yards for a score and the Titans’ onlyfirst-half points.
The Titans had also been plagued by penalties all season and were averaging around eight penalties a game, but committed only four.
On offense, Wara led the Titans in rushing with 86 yards and a touchdown, as well as passing with 92 yards.
Cerroni said that although Wara made some rookie mistakes early in the game, he was the right guy for the job.
“In the fourth quarter, when the game is on the line, there’s no one else you want in there,” Cerroni said.
Cerroni said that quarterback Tyler Wegner’s lack of playing time in the game was a result of wanting a more mobile passer, not a benching.
Roach added 71 yards rushing, 105 yards on kickoff returns (21.0 avg.), and the game-winning touchdown.
Although the team struggled in the first half, Cerroni said that the win was the first time the entire team played well together as a whole.
“It was a whole-team effort,” Cerroni said. “This is what we have been waiting for, and it was just nice to get it Saturday.”
1 comments