UW-Whitewater fans crushed it; Attendance tops Div. III

WHITEWATER, Wis. (WMTV) - You can’t say the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater fans don’t love their Warhawks. On Wednesday, the university celebrated its average home attendance dominating over the rest of Div. III opponents - nearly as much as the team dominated its opponents on the gridiron.

Nearly 70,000 fans crossed through the turnstiles at Perkins Stadium last season, more than 18,000 more than the next highest attendance total in the division. UWW noted that besides blowing away the competition, the school also set its own attendance record, topping 2016 when 51,459 fans came to their games.

An average of 6,975 fans showed up for each of the Warhawks’ six regular season and four postseason games this year. The athletics dept. noted that UWW has finished in the top ten for Div. III attendance for the past 15 seasons.

“I get the chills every time,” defensive lineman Mackenzie Balanganayi gushed on a 2020 Inside Warhawk Athletics podcast. “It’s different anywhere else, you don’t get that anywhere else. You feel unbeatable.”

Thank you, Warhawk Nation. Nearly 70,000 fans packed Perkins Stadium during the 2021 season as the Warhawks led NCAA Division III in both total attendance and average attendance. https://bit.ly/3sw25Hp
Posted by UW-Whitewater Warhawk Football on Thursday, February 10, 2022

Three Warhawks games last season now rank in the top 50 for attendance in Div. III history, each of which drawing more than 7,000 people to the stadium. One of them, the Oct. 9 showdown against UW-Platteville (which turned into a 65-21 drubbing of the Pioneers), brought in more than 15,000 fans and now ranks among the top ten all-time.

And, in nearly every game, all those UWW fans went home happy. The 9-1 Warhawks won every game by an average 47 points – until the last one, losing at home to eventual Div. III champion Mary Hardin-Baylor in the semi-finals.