Wisconsin-Whitewater defeated previously 4-1 Northern Michigan Saturday, running out to a 49-0 halftime lead and cruised to 56-24 win to finish 6-0 in the WIIL North.
In other action, Illinois State did something they hadn’t done all league season - they gave up points. But ISU only gave up one try to Northern Iowa, and scored 49 to finished 5-0 in the WIIL South. UW Stout defeated UW-Platteville to finish 3-3 and join Northern Michigan, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Whitewater in the playoffs from the North.
Stout was aided in their charge by an on-campus suspension to Marquette, which had started strong but has had to forfeit half its season.
In the South, UNI fell to 4-1, while Loyola beat Illinois-Wesleyan to take 3rd. The big game, then, came down to 1-3 Illinois-Chicago v 1-3 DePaul in an all-Windy-City clash. In a wild game, UIC emerged winners 41-39, and took the 4th playoff spot.
For Whitewater, this is, of course, the beginning of an intense time of year they know all too well.
“It only gets hard now and we everyone also faced mid-terms and other schoolwork,” said scrumhalf Tim Grams. “But we’re able to make it work. We practice four days a week, which makes it easier for guys if they can’t practice because of school, they can still make the other three.”
Grams said Whitewater is looking good, and really only had issues with Northern Michigan after the subs came on and the unity on defense suffered.
“The first half was probably our best half of the year, and really the first 60 minutes were how we expect to play,” said Grams. “That’s the standard we want to keep.”
Grams said the Whitewater backs were very strong, but it was the forward pack that really stood up to an athletic and powerful NMU team. Among those who stepped into the fray were locks Conor Bell and Zach Smith, and props Brandon Lopez and Ken Ewert. Shay Haase was outstanding at flanker, while John Grams slid over from flank to No. 8 after five minutes to fill in for an injury.
Things are certainly looking good for the Warhawks right now, but there’s a serious series of playoff games to come. First up will be the quarterfinals next week, followed by a final four weekend in Cottage Grove, Wisc. November 5-6. And there’s a serious challenger. Illinois State has allowed one try in five league games, and dominated the South.
Below are the final standings. Here are next weeks quarterfinals matchups:
Illinois-Chicago at Wisconsin-Whitewater
Wisconsin-Stout at Illinois State
Northern Michigan at Northern Iowa
Loyola at Wisconsin-Milwaukee
| WIIL Rugby Conference-North | |||||||||
| W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | BT | BL | Pts | |
| UW-Whitewater | 6 | 0 | 0 | 471 | 58 | 413 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| UW-Milwaukee | 5 | 1 | 0 | 275 | 121 | 154 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Northern Michigan | 4 | 2 | 0 | 187 | 118 | 69 | 5 | 0 | 21 |
| UW-Stout | 3 | 3 | 0 | 145 | 193 | -48 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| Marquette | 2 | 4 | 0 | 128 | 183 | -55 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| UW-Platteville | 0 | 5 | 0 | 63 | 342 | -279 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| UW-Lacrosse | 0 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 293 | -254 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| WIIL Rugby Conference-South | |||||||||
| W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | BT | BL | Pts | |
| Illinois State | 5 | 0 | 0 | 337 | 5 | 332 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Northern Iowa | 4 | 1 | 0 | 202 | 92 | 110 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Loyola | 3 | 2 | 0 | 154 | 92 | 62 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| UIC | 2 | 3 | 0 | 104 | 293 | -189 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| DePaul | 1 | 4 | 0 | 86 | 233 | -147 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Illinois Wesleyan | 0 | 5 | 0 | 22 | 200 | -178 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
