In front of a packed crowd of 6,823, the UW-Whitewater football team put on a show in their home opener Saturday, defeating Campbellsville University 54-14.

The Warhawks came out strong and used a sequence of big scoring plays to put away the Fighting Tigers. The ’Hawks had scoring plays that consisted of 50, 48, 40, 54, 64 and 60 yards.

“It was good to see that we were able to execute some explosive plays, especially in the first half and the start of the third quarter,” head coach Lance Leipold said. “If there was probably one thing that we haven’t had the chance to have in the first couple games, it’s been those explosive plays.”

Senior wideout Cory Robinson started off the day with a 50-yard touchdown reception from Matt Blanchard with 9:59 left in the first quarter. After a defensive stop, junior running back Desmin Ward responded with a 48-yard touchdown run to put the ’Hawks up 14-0.

Ward got the starting nod over All-American Levell Coppage because of a decision by the coaches.

“It was just a decision that we made to give Desmin some work,” Leipold said. “Desmin gives us a different style back, and hopefully it’s a good combination as we approach the conference season.”

Ward finished with 90 yards on nine carries. Coppage got in at the start of the second quarter, and finished with 117 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Coppage also scored on a 60-yard run to start the third quarter.

After an Eric Kindler 40-yard field goal, senior quarterback Matt Blanchard gave the ’Hawks a 23-0 lead after connecting on a 54-yard passing touchdown to junior Tyler Huber on the last play of the first quarter.

Blanchard later connected with Huber again on a 64-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Blanchard finished the day 12-15 for 294 yards and three touchdowns, while Huber finished with three catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

“What [our receivers] didn’t have is a lot of game experience, but you can see where the talent is,” Leipold said. “Huber has athleticism and flat-out speed in pulling away from people.”

The Fighting Tigers scored on a 73-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Henry to wideout Stan Warrenhuffman in the second quarter, and later connected with wideout Diaz Bolden for 66-yards late in the fourth quarter. The Tigers finished with 254 total yards on offense compared to the ‘Hawks 571.

Leipold was happy with the ’Hawks defense, other than allowing the two big scoring plays.

“It looked like Noah [Timm] stumbled a little bit on that play, but we knew they were going to take shots, they always have and they did last year,” Leipold said. “Again, we never want to give them up, but it’s never going to be perfect.”

The ’Hawks now head into a bye week before hosting UW-Platteville at 2 p.m. on Oct. 1.