Different season, same result. For the first time ever, the UW-Whitewater Warhawks and the Carleton Knights (Minnesota) faced off in week one battle Saturday. Sept. 7 at Perkins Stadium to begin the 2025-26 season. History repeated itself from last season’s week one as the Warhawks took care of business with a final of 45-14.
After losing the coin toss, the Warhawks sent their defense in to start the game. The Knights showed they wanted to be aggressive and came out fast. That all fell apart early on 4th and 2 when the pass was intercepted by Carter Sessa leading to an early turnover. “I mean, that’s a big part of it,” junior linebacker Karsten Libby said. “We talked about momentum, getting a big play on first, second down. That’s something that drives us to work.”
Whitewater quarterbacks Justin Klinkner and Aidan Lucero both started at the position today as there was uncertainty of what the gameplan would look like during the game.
“I think it worked for us,” head coach Jace Rindahl said. “That position is so critical to your team and how you can go about it. And we got a young quarterback room.”
Both quarterbacks showed explosiveness and kept the Knights defense on their toes the entire game. Following a touchdown by Carleton to make the score 10-7, Warhawks wide receiver Tyler Vasey took a kickoff 91 yards to the house with 6:32 left in the second quarter.
“It’s a motivator for the team,” Vasey said. “It’s like, ‘all right here we go, we got the momentum, and now we have to keep it.’”
After that, the offense never looked back. Using the “pound the rock” motto, the Whitewater offense out rushed Carleton 384-to-56.
Junior Brian Stanton leads the way with 205 yards rushing and two touchdowns, including a 66-yard touchdown rush early in the fourth quarter.
“I think we just stuck to the same game plan we had all week, which was pretty much to run the ball and beat them up front, which we managed to do, and just keep pounding the rock,” said Klinkner, who added two rushing touchdowns with 112 yards rushing.
Overall, it was a dominating game from the Warhawks. Everyone stepped up during the win. It wasn’t just one-sided, it was both sides of the ball.
“Karsten Libby had that interception, which was big time,” Rindahl said. “Christian Crump had a big third down catch. Klinkner made a big third down throw. O-line overall. Couple fourth and shorts, third and shorts, run the ball, and we’ll find a way to pick it up.”
However, there are always little things to work on even if you win in dominating fashion.
“We’ll put the tape on,” Rindahl said. “We’ll watch it. There’s a lot to clean up. As you keep pushing forward the competition gets better, so the margin for error becomes even smaller, and you have to make sure you eliminate bad football.”
The non-conference schedule continues as the Warhawks hit the road against Saint Xavier University (Illinois) Sept. 13. The Warhawks next home game is Oct. 4 against rival UW-La Crosse.
