STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point football team (3-5, 2-3) celebrated Senior Day with a 27-21 win over visiting No. 10 UW-Oshkosh (5-3, 3-2) on Saturday.
 
The Pointers' defense kept the high-powered UWO offense in check and intercepted the Titans four times on the day.  Senior Omarri Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) had two of those picks with junior Sam Shafer (Prescott, Wis./River Falls) putting the Pointers up by two scores with a pick-six in the fourth quarter.
 
Freshman quarterback Max Herro (Dousman, Wis./Kettle Moraine) piloted the Pointers to his first win under center.  He completed 14-of-20 passes for 164 and a touchdown.  He hit Christian Almonte (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls) eight times for 71 yards and Steve Herra (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) four times for 64 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Titans opened the scoring on a six play, 65-yard drive on their first possession.  UWSP responded on the ensuing drive.  Herro hit Almonte and Herra twice each, including the 34-yard touchdown.  A missed extra point left the Pointers trailing 7-6.
 
On the next drive, the UWSP defense stalled the Titans' drive and forced a field goal attempt.  The kick was wide left.  UWO capitalized on the first drive of the second quarter with a touchdown to take a 14-6 lead.
 
Johnson picked off his first pass of the day as the game neared halftime. Herro orchestrated a six-play drive the remainder of the 28 yards, all on rushing attempts.  ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran) crossed the goal line to end the drive.  UWSP converted the two-point conversion and the game went to half tied at 14-14.
 
On UWO's first drive of the second half, Johnson again stepped in with an interception returned to the Titans' 28 yard line.  Pointers' kicker Victor Ponterio (Melrose, Wis./Melrose-Mindoro) converted a career-long 48-yard field goal to put UWSP up 17-14.
 
Late in the third quarter, UWO used a short field after a long punt return to position itself for a tying or go-ahead score.  The Pointers defense again was up to the task holding UWO to a field goal attempt that was missed.
 
UWSP turned that momentum into a 12-play drive as the game entered the fourth quarter.  Ponterio kicked a 22-yard field goal to push the lead to 20-14.
 
On the second play of the ensuing drive, Shafer snapped his second interception of the year and scampered 42 yards to the house as the Pointers took a 27-14 lead.
 
The Titans drove 75 yards on the next possession for a touchdown to close within one score.  After a UWSP punt, the Titans again drove into Pointers' territory.  Ryan Strick (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) and Jashawn Witt (Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon) recorded sacks on back-to-back plays to put UWO in third and long. Consecutive incompletions, including the fourth-down attempt, gave the Pointers the ball back with just over two minutes left.
 
Three short rushes causes the Pointers to punt the ball back to the Titans with 58 seconds left.  UWO completed three-consecutive passes to get to midfield.  A fourth completion of the drive put the Titans at the UWSP 34.  OJ James (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) stepped in front the next pass and sealed the win with the Pointers' fourth interception of the game.
 
The Pointers head to UW-Whitewater next Saturday (Nov. 3) for the second-straight match up with a top-10 league opponent.  Kickoff at Perkins Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.