File photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru
Editor’s note: Because UW-Whitewater has already played two games, this is gameweek #3 for the Warhawks. So for the purposes of this story, Saturday’s game at UMHB will be referred to as “Week 3” for UWW. However, this is gameweek #2 for UMHB this season, which is why this article’s title mentions “UMHB’s Week 2 opponent”.
BELTON — In every season since 2018, UMHB and UW-Whitewater have met at some point on the gridiron. From 2018-2021, those matchups came in the late rounds of the national playoffs, twice with a spot in the Stagg Bowl at stake. Over the last four years, the annual duel has shifted to an anticipated regular season classic, with the Warhawks winning close battles in 2022 and 2023 before The Cru stunned the nation’s third-ranked team on their home field last September.
With all of that history taken into account, UWW has the familiarity of a conference opponent to many within the UMHB program and the Crusader fanbase. But from year-to-year, no team stays exactly the same, and the Warhawks are no exception. There are new coordinators on both sides of the ball and first-year starters at multiple key spots, including quarterback.
As we do each week, we’ve put together a rundown of five things to know about The Cru’s opponent, continuing our game week coverage with a detailed opponent preview. It doesn’t cover everything, but touches on several trends and recent takeaways from UW-Whitewater’s first two weeks of the 2025 campaign, providing a good look at who UMHB is set to match up against inside Crusader Stadium on Saturday morning.
So, what should you know about UMHB’s lone D3 non-conference opponent in 2025? Glad you asked. Here’s a look at the UW-Whitewater Warhawks.
They’re 2-0, and got there by winning two different ways
“UW-Whitewater is 2-0 heading into its matchup with UMHB…” That has been the exact case in each of the previous two seasons, and it’s the position the Warhawks again find themselves in, coming off momentum-building wins over Carleton College (45-14) and St. Xavier (37-0) with this Top 25 showdown awaiting.
Truthfully, the expectation was that UWW would start 2-0. Carleton finished 5-5 in 2024, a middle-of-the-pack MIAC program that ranked No. 166 in NPI, and St. Xavier, an NAIA program, went 5-6 a year ago. Both were respectable opponents, but UWW was heavily favored in both contests.
The real takeaway was in how UWW won its first two games. As Warhawkfootball.com wrote on Sept. 13, “Week one showed explosiveness on the ground. Week two added a road shutout and the composure to finish drives from every field position.” It’s true. Against Carleton, the Warhawks wore down their opposition with a commitment to the run game and sheer force in the rushing attack. Of UWW’s 20 first downs, 16 came on the ground, and their 436 rushing yards went down as the third-most in a D-III game this season. Flip it to last Saturday against a solid scholarship program, and UWW proved its capability to attack a defense without the run. When St. Xavier loaded the box, the Warhawks took to the air. 13 first downs came via the pass, Justin Klinkner attempted 16 more passes than he did in Week 1, and 243 of their 353 yards were the product of passing plays.
That is a key point heading into this matchup, as it complicates the task of slowing down the Warhawk offense when they’ve proven to be highly effective in a heavy-run gameplan, but just as dangerous when the passing attack opens up. Part of that appears to be a credit to new offensive coordinator Caden Murphy, who came to UWW this spring from NAIA Midland (NE). More than they have done in years past, UWW is running the offense with a wider variety of formations and different wrinkles out of the same look, all of which kept both Carleton and St. Xavier’s defenses on their toes the last two weeks. With the Warhawks being a true threat in both methods of moving the ball, the defenses were forced to guess between run and pass on several key plays that ended up extending UWW’s drives, particularly on third down.
Justin Klinkner: QB1
For the second straight game, UMHB will match up against an offense with a new starting quarterback in command. Sophomore Justin Klinkner was stellar in UW-Whitewater’s wins over Carleton and St. Xavier, backing up the coaching staff’s decision to make him the starter in 2025. The Two Rivers, Wisconsin native enters Week 3 having completed 84.4% of his passes (27-of-32) in the Warhawks’ 2-0 start, an exceptional mark that ranks as the best completion percentage in the country. He is also amongst D-III’s best quarterbacks statistically in passing efficiency, ranking 11th in that category at 193.8.
Klinkner comes into this matchup with a 3:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio, with all three scores through the air coming in last Saturday at St. Xavier. In that duel, Klinkner’s arm strength showed up much more than it did against Carleton, as he threw for 227 yards on 20 completions (11.35 yards/completion) and distributed those passes evenly. Nine different Warhawks pulled in at least one pass, highlighting both Klinkner’s passing capability and the balanced nature of UWW’s receiving corps.
A state wrestling champion as a high school senior (WIAA Div. II – 175 lbs), Klinkner stands at 6’1, 207 pounds, and has clear strength that contributes to his ability as a quarterback. He is a physical runner that also possesses good speed, something that he showcased in rushing for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries in Whitewater’s season opener. In each of his first two games at UWW’s starter, Klinkner has led the Warhawks in rushing attempts, adding 10 more carries against St. Xavier in Week 2.
Klinkner will be the third UWW starting QB UMHB has gone toe-to-toe with since the two programs began what has become an annual regular season matchup in 2022. Four seasons ago, Evan Lewandowski started for the Warhawks in their 28-24 win, followed by Jason Ceniti, who started both the 2023 and 2024 games against The Cru. Ceniti lasted only three drives in last year’s matchup before being pulled in favor of Jackson Chryst, after Ceniti threw three interceptions on his first five passes.
UWW’s rushing attack is likely to be the best UMHB will face during the regular season
Even with a new offensive coordinator and some schematic changes, UW-Whitewater’s offensive identity remains rooted in a three-word phrase: Pound the Rock. Those who have been around D-III for some time know this well. Few programs have run the ball as consistently and successfully as the Warhawks have, with five All-American running backs and 13 All-American offensive linemen coming through the program over the last two decades. That includes Quinn Meinerz, the Denver Broncos’ All-Pro guard who went up against UMHB in both the 2018 and 2019 playoffs.
Because of that history, and the performance of the run game in the season-opener against Carleton, there is good reason to believe this will be the best rushing attack UMHB’s defensive front will face at any point during this regular season. Consider the Warhawks’ 45-14 win over Carleton in Week 1: 436 rushing yards, 51 carries, 8.5 yards/attempt, 5 rushing TDs. Carleton’s defense isn’t at UMHB’s level, but it is evidence of what Whitewater is capable of when the run game is priority #1 in the offensive gameplan. The Warhawks head to Belton ranked 15th nationally in rushing offense, averaging 273.0 yards per game.
Much of that has to do with the offensive line paving the way. Known for having immense strength and size up front, Whitewater returns three starters from 2024—left tackle Colin Krzeczkowski, left guard Evan Oberg, and right guard Alex Pethan—and the two new starters—center Aaron Johnson and right tackle Troy Dietzler—are both juniors. Needless to say, the Warhawks have plenty of experience on the line, and a fair amount of size to go with it. Both tackles stand at 6’5, and Oberg and Pethan, the left and right guards, are 6’3 and 6’2, respectively. Their average weight? 290 pounds. This is a top-tier offensive line, as it is most years, with FCS-caliber size and strength.
Expect Brian Stanton to get the bulk of the carries out of the backfield, as the junior from Plainfield, Illinois, has 217 yards on just 12 carries this season. A hard-nosed running back, Stanton had a break-out performance against Carleton, running his way onto D3football.com’s Team of the Week with a 201-yard performance that included a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. That said, Stanton was held quiet against St. Xavier (16 yards, 5 carries), so he’ll be looking to bounce-back against The Cru.
When Stanton isn’t carrying the ball, expect to see Ty Schultz used in various offensive packages. Standing at 5’10, 204 pounds, Schultz transferred in from D1 Eastern Illinois in 2024, and has 17 carries this season, the third-most on the team behind Klinkner and Stanton.
This isn’t a defense that gives up big plays
For as capable and talented as UW-Whitewater is on offense, the defensive performance under new defensive coordinator Ryan Cortez has been equally impressive. Aside from surrendering two touchdowns against Carleton, every other drive in Week 1 ended with a punt, a turnover on downs, or an interception. Then they followed it up by shutting out St. Xavier, with nine of their opponent’s 10 drives spanning no more than six plays.
Holding opponents to such low offensive outputs doesn’t happen without taking away the “big play”, a gain of 30 or 40 yards that sparks a scoring drive or, at the very least, puts the opponent into comfortable field goal range. And that is exactly what the Warhawk defense took away in their first two contests thanks to a collective effort from all three tiers of the defense. Carleton’s longest gain on the ground? 12 yards. And aside from one 37-yard pass in the second quarter, the Knights didn’t record significant gains through the air, either. St. Xavier performed similarly, with the Cougars’ longest play from scrimmage going just 19 yards. Without those significant gains, UWW was able to disrupt the momentum of nearly every drive, a big reason why the Warhawks head to Belton having allowed just 14 points over eight quarters of football this season.
Senior linebacker Ethan Gallagher, who will face UMHB for the fourth time in his career on Saturday, has been the main catalyst for UWW’s defensive pressure, leading the team with 2.5 tackles for loss and 16.0 total tackles. But his experience is an asset that can’t be quantified on a stat sheet, and playing in the center of the Warhawk defense allows for that experience to impact the unit’s overall performance. Fellow linebacker Karsten Libby (1 INT, 12.0 tackles) and defensive lineman Lucas Sadler (2.0 TFL, 3 QBH) also provide veteran leadership to a hard-nosed group that led the WIAC in scoring defense in 2024.
The longest field goal in D3 this season belongs to UWW’s Seth Adams
Through two weeks of the 2025 season, only one kicker in D-III has sent a 50-plus yard attempt through the uprights: UWW’s Seth Adams. With his 52-yard field goal in last Saturday’s win, Adams officially set a new national season-high, surpassing the 49-yarder from Stevenson’s Micah Veilleux in Week 1.
It was certainly a statement of his power, considering just seven D-III kickers in the entire 2024 season recorded a field goal of 52 yards or more. For Adams, who only began kicking as a junior in high school, it was the highlight of a strong showing in his second career start for the Warhawks, as the sophomore was a perfect 3-for-3 on FGs, also converting from 33 and 34 yards later in the shutout win.
Through two games, Adams is 4-for-4 on FGs, and 10-for-10 on PATs, possessing a strong leg with a level of accuracy that stands out in D-III. Also doubling as UWW’s starting punter, he recorded a 55-yard punt at St. Xavier, and is averaging 41.0 yards/punt this season. In tight, defensive battles like we may see on Saturday, the kicking game seems to rise in its significance, so expect Adams to have a role in shaping UWW’s performance against The Cru.
UMHB and UW-Whitewater kick off at 11 a.m. CT inside Crusader Stadium on Saturday, as one of just three matchups between Top 25 programs on the national slate. Tickets are $10 for Reserved, $8 for General Admission, and $5 for Students. The game will also be streamed on cruathletics.com.
For more in-depth insight on UW-Whitewater and its 2025 team, check out the excellent coverage on Warhawkfootball.com.
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