UW-L Earns First Win of Season
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned its first win of the
season with 37-20 victory over UW-River Falls Saturday afternoon at
Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
The Eagles improve to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Falcons fall
to 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
UW-L snapped an eight-game losing streak overall dating back to
last season.
The Eagles earned their 18th straight victory over the Falcons with
Saturday's win.
UW-L took a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the game
as Nick Anker hit Lee
Lauters for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles went
36 yards on five plays to score as the drive was set-up
by Mike Butterfield's 55-yard kickoff
return.
UW-River Falls tied it at 7-7 later in the quarter as it went 18
plays and 95 yards, taking 7:58 off the clock. John Schimenz scored
on a two-yard run with 2:04 left in the period.
The Falcons took a 14-7 lead with 7:49 remaining in the second
quarter as Schimenz scored on a four-yard run. UW-River Falls' Chad
Blair had converted a 26-yard field goal, but UW-L was called for a
personal foul setting up the Falcons at the Eagles' four-yard
line.
Anker came right back on the next drive connecting
with Ross Slovensky on a 13-yard
touchdown pass. Billy Niggemann forced a
Falcons' fumble on the next play from scrimmage and one play later,
Butterfield scored on a 47-yard touchdown run and 21-14 UW-L
lead.
UW-L stopped Schimenz on a fourth-and-one play at the Eagles'
37-yard line with 2:16 left in the first half and UW-L went 63
yards on six plays with Brock
Larson running in from two-yards out to make it 28-14
at halftime.
The Eagles led 30-14 after the Falcons' snapped the ball over
punter Dustin Samplawski's head for a safety. UW-L led 37-14 with
6:31 remaining in the third as Anker and Lauters combined on a
27-yard touchdown pass. UW-River Falls finished the scoring as B.J.
LeTourneau connected with John Wahlstrom with a 44-yard touchdown
pass. The Falcons' two-point attempt failed.
UW-L finished with 380 yards of offense, including 202 rushing and
178 passing. Anker was 13-of-22 for 178 yards and three touchdowns
while Lauters led the Eagles with 82 yards rushing on 12 carries
(6.8 average). Anker and Butterfield both finished with 45 yards
rushing. Lauters caught four passes for 40 yards with two
touchdowns. UW-L's Travis Bordeau led
the team with five receptions for 81 yards.
UW-River Falls totaled 372 yards, including 142 rushing and 230
passing. LeTourneau finished 20-of-29 for 230 yards and one
touchdown. He was sacked four times. Schimenz had 85 yards rushing
on 20 attempts and two touchdowns. Greg Klingelhutz led the Falcons
with eight receptions for 93 yards. Wahlstrom finished with four
catches for 74 yards and the touchdown.
The Falcons finished with 24 first downs and won the time of
possession, 35:28 to 24:32. UW-River Falls was seven-of-16 on
third-down and four turnovers (three fumbles, one interception).
UW-L totaled 20 first downs, were five-of-10 on third-down and
finished with one turnover (fumble).
Jim Litscher led the UW-L defense with 13
tackles while Dustin Drath had 11. Both
players totaled eight solo tackles. Drath, Donovan
Winter and David Van
Lieshout each had a fumble recovery
whileJake Meckstroth had
an interception. Winter also had two quarterback sacks
while Jason Church andNick
Berg also finished with a quarterback sack.
Lincoln Bjorklund and Mike Cano led UW-River Falls with seven
tackles. Bjorklund has six solo tackles, including one for loss.
Ryan Bartsch had 1.5 quarterback sacks for the Falcons.
UW-L returns to action Saturday, October 16 hosting UW-Platteville
at 1 p.m.
