By: Zach Hiney, Editor-in-Chief of the Trumpet
For the third straight season, the Wartburg Knights got a matchup with a team from the WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in the NCAA Division III football playoffs. And for a third straight season, the Knights beat a WIAC team to advance in the playoffs. The 19-14 win over Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday at a chilly Walston-Hoover Stadium wasn’t perfect, but head coach Chris Winter acknowledged that winning in the playoffs sometimes means playing an imperfect game and finding a way to win.
“Each phase of the ball, when they’re needed to step up, they do,” Winter said in his post game press conference. “We make a mistake on offense, defense got our back. Defense gives up a score before the half, offense drives the ball down and puts points on the board in the second half.”
The Knights jumped out a 10-0 lead after one quarter on a Cael O’Neill 25-yard field goal and a three-yard touchdown run from Dawson Rud. The Pioneers were able to respond right before halftime, with a one-yard touchdown run from quarterback Michael Priami cutting the Knights lead to 10-7 at the half.
A Cael O’Neill 33-yard field goal was the only score of the third quarter and gave the Knights a 13-7 lead entering the fourth. After a couple of punts from both teams to start the fourth quarter, the Knights faced a 2nd and 7 from their own 42-yard line when they ripped off one of the biggest plays of the game.
Rud got a carry and ran through an open path carved by his All-American left tackle Tucker Kinney en route to a 52-yard gain, barely missing out on a touchdown. Three plays later, a one-yard rushing score for Carter Markham gave the Knights the cushion they needed to win.
“That was a huge play in the game, it busted it open,” Winter said about the 52-yard run. “That was great timing and a great call by the offensive coaching staff to get that set up and outstanding execution from Dawson and our offensive line to rip that thing off.”
On the day, the Knights ran for 221 yards against a stout Pioneer defense, with Rud accounting for 155 of those yards. He crossed the 1,000 yard rushing mark in a season for the first time in his career and credited the entire offense for helping him gash the Pioneer defense.
“Running behind the o-line, the tight ends and the receivers, they do a really great job blocking for me and giving me holes to run through,” Rud said. “It’s a lot of fun running behind them.”
The Pioneers would score again with a minute to play on a four-yard touchdown pass from Priami to Brandt Stare, but the Knights would recover the ensuing onside kick to seal the win. Overall, the Knights defense held the Pioneers to 248 yards of total offense and 13 points. The Pioneers entered Saturday’s game putting up 415.2 yards and 35.9 points per game. A big part of that defensive effort was the return of fifth-year linebacker Nate Link. He had missed some games in the regular season but returned for this game.
“Being able to go out there and play again,” Link said in response to being asked about the best part of Saturday’s win. “Watching from the sidelines made me appreciate going out there and playing again.”
Link finished the game with 8 total tackles and a tackle for loss. Junior Mac Watts led the team with 10 total tackles. The Knights got a sack from Cam Stalzer and interceptions from Parker Rochford and Justin Grieff to help shut down a potent Pioneer attack.
With the win, the Knights advance to the third round of the NCAA Division III playoffs again, where a matchup with the Bethel Royals awaits them. While the goal of a national championship is still alive, the Knights are keeping their focus on next week and a chance to play at home one more time.
“I think it’s special, we get to play at the “Wally-Hoov” one more time in the nasty blacks,” senior quarterback Carter Markham said. “Teams coming in here, it’s not fun for them as far as the last couple of seasons have gone.”
The Knights will be hosting #21 Bethel University on December 7, with kickoff at 12 p.m. You can watch the game on ESPN+.
