The UW-Whitewater football team left no time for doubt in their 66-0 dismantling of UW-Stevens Point Oct. 18. The team played under the Friday night lights due to a WIAC rule stating that any UW-Whitewater home game coinciding with the state marching band competition must be moved to Friday. This led to the game’s unique atmosphere that fueled the Warhawks to their most complete performance of the season.
Senior quarterback Jackson Chryst, making his first career start, put on a show, throwing for 266 yards and three touchdowns while completing 84% of his passes. Running back Tamir Thomas had one of his best performances of the season, adding 122 yards and two touchdowns. The Warhawk defense smothered the Pointers, keeping them scoreless and forcing five turnovers, including an interception by captain defensive back Kyle Koelblinger.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Warhawks, who were coming off a tough loss to UW-Stout the previous week, a loss that dropped the Warhawks to 3-2 on the season. Head coach Jace Rindahl emphasized the importance of bouncing back with a dominant performance.
“It was everything,” Rindahl said. “Last week was hard. We didn’t play well, but this group is s
pecial. They believed, even last week to the final whistle, that we were going to win that game. So we knew we were going to have to build off that. I’m just happy for the guys, happy for the coaches who did a heck of a job getting them prepared, and they went out and executed.”
And execute they did. The Warhawks racked up over 600 yards of offense, playing an utterly mistake-free game. The offense clicked early and often, and the defense was relentless from start to finish, ensuring that Stevens Point never found a rhythm.
All eyes were on Jackson Chryst, the senior quarterback thrust into the starting role after Jason Ceniti struggled with turnovers in recent weeks. Chryst didn’t disappoint, calmly leading the Warhawks offense to five offensive touchdowns in the first half alone.
“There’s some things I could have done better,” Chryst said. “Overall it was good to get in the game and make an impact.”
Though it was his first start, Chryst was quick to credit the support system around him, particularly from Jason Ceniti.
“Jason helped a lot, his football knowledge is insane, and having him support me was awesome,” Chryst said. “He’s been through a lot and was so supportive from day one. I respect and love him so much for that.”
Chryst’s performance on Friday night offered a glimpse of what the Warhawks offense could look like moving forward, with his ability to spread the ball opening up opportunities for the run game. Something running back Tamir Thomas was quick to point out.
“[Chryst] being able to spread the defense out with his passing really opened up some holes on the ground,” Thomas said. “The offensive line and their communication has been great all year, especially this week. All of that together allowed us to find those gaps a lot easier.”
One of the game’s unique aspects was the Friday night kickoff, a change from the usual Saturday afternoon games. The schedule change had a noticeable impact on the players, both in preparation and atmosphere. For many of them, it brought back memories of playing under the lights in high school.
“Playing on a Friday night is a different atmosphere than we’re used to,” Thomas said. “It took me a while to adjust. I’m used to waking up, having breakfast, then getting out to the field for the game. Today, I woke up, the team had a walk-through, and then I had five
hours of free time. I didn’t know what to do, so I went back to sleep.”
Despite the change, the Warhawks were able to adjust, and the night-game atmosphere energized both the team and the crowd.
“It did feel good playing under the lights again, kind of running it back to the high school days for a little bit,” Thomas said. “The atmosphere was high, and we felt confident about how we were going to perform today.”
The unique scheduling wasn’t the only factor contributing to the team’s high energy. The Warhawks were also playing on Military Appreciation Night, adding an extra layer of significance to the occasion.
While the offense was firing on all cylinders, the Warhawks’ defense was equally impressive. Kyle Koelblinger, who had an interception and helped lead the shutout effort, spoke about the team’s mindset coming into the game.
“We haven’t performed the way that we feel we could have in the past couple of weeks,” Koelblinger said. “It was about showing ourselves who we are because we know who we are and what we can do. But it’s just going out there and establishing that presence, making the other team feel us.”
The defense certainly made its presence felt. The Warhawks held the Pointers offense to a season-low in total yards and points.
“It was awesome to see everyone continue to battle to the end, even the guys who don’t normally get a lot of reps,” Koelblinger said. “It’s nice to see them getting out there and performing, and to keep that score at zero was a great testament to the team we are.”
Coach Rindahl also emphasized the importance of getting some of the younger players on the field.
“It was so important to get some of the younger guys in the game,” Rindahl said. “It’s good for depth, good for morale, good for development. That’s awesome to build on.”
With the win, Whitewater improves to 4-2 on the season and now faces a tough schedule for the remainder of the season. Despite the blowout victory, Rindahl knows there’s still work to be done as the Warhawks navigate a challenging WIAC schedule.
“We’ll look ourselves in the mirror and find things that we gotta clean up,” Rindahl said. “We’re going to build off the things that went well, but we gotta keep getting better.”
Tamir Thomas echoed similar sentiments, acknowledging the demanding schedule for the rest of the season.
“We know every game from now on is going to be tough,” Thomas said. “The whole WIAC is tough. We have to prepare like it’s our last game every day, and I’m confident we’ll build off this win.”
The Warhawks will be entering the heart of their conference schedule as they head to Platteville on Saturday, Oct. 26, to take on a very tough UW-Platteville team. A win in that game is crucial if the Warhawks want a chance at a conference championship.
