Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
The No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team began the 2015 season Saturday with a complete performance, defeating host Belhaven 62-6 at H.T. Newell Field in Jackson, Miss.
The victory was the first for head coach Kevin Bullis, who took the reins of the program in January after serving as a defensive assistant at UW-Whitewater for the last seven seasons.
The Warhawks (1-0 overall) also extended their college football-best win streak to 33 games.
UW-Whitewater rushed for 302 yards on offense, while the defense allowed just 187 total yards and forced three turnovers against the "Air Raid" attack of the Blazers (0-2).
Senior running back Jordan Ratliffe led a balanced rushing attack with 10 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns. It was his 10th career 100-yard rushing game.
Senior Dennis Moore added 12 carries for 78 yards and a score, and senior Nick Patterson posted eight carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
Making his debut as a starter, junior quarterback Chris Nelson finished 6-of-9 passing for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Junior linebacker Jordan Strasburg led the defense with seven tackles. Sixteen other players finished with two tackles or more, including junior defensive lineman John Flood, who finished with two sacks.
Junior defensive back Vince Mason and sophomore defensive back JD Marconi each tallied an interception. Senior defensive lineman Nick Froland forced a fumble.
The Warhawks found the end zone three times in the first quarter, taking advantage of a Belhaven turnover and a defensive stop deep in Blazers territory.
After forcing a three-and-out, UW-Whitewater drove 66 yards in eight plays as Nelson started the scoring with a 1-yard sneak on third and goal to make it 7-0 with 9:18 on the clock.
Mason intercepted Clayton Webb and returned it 31 yards to the Belhaven 19-yard line. Patterson scored from one yard out to double the lead at 14-0 with 6:26 remaining.
The Warhawks stopped the Blazers on fourth down, and needed just 15 yards for their third touchdown of the quarter, a 1-yard run by Ratliffe with 3:34 left.
Ratliffe scampered in from 34 yards out at the 12:05 mark of the second quarter to give UW-Whitewater a 28-0 advantage.
After three straight punts, Patterson took a handoff and ran 48 yards to the end zone, making it a five-touchdown lead with 3:53 left in the half.
The Warhawks got the ball back with just under two minutes left in the quarter, and Moore ran for a 21-yard score on the first play of the drive to make it 42-0 with 1:27 remaining.
Junior tight end Brent Campbell completed a 53-yard drive to start the second half with a two-yard touchdown reception from Nelson just under five minutes into the period.
Freshman Ben Franzen kicked his first career field goal, a 28-yarder, at the 1:28 mark of the third to make it 52-6. Freshman running back Tyler Glass added a six-yard touchdown off a Belhaven fumble, and Franzen knocked through a 26-yard field goal in the fourth to account for the final margin.
UW-Whitewater opens the home portion of its 2015 schedule next Saturday, Sept. 19, against Finlandia (Mich.). Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. on Hall of Fame Day at Perkins Stadium.