Marquette, Mich. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked 14th on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, improved to 2-1 on the season with a 34-3 win at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Northern Michigan University Saturday afternoon in the Superior Dome. The Wildcats, members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), drop to 0-3 on the year.
It is UWL's second straight season with a win over an NCAA Division II opponent after a 28-21 victory at Wayne State University (Mich.).
The Eagles' Zachary Watson returned the opening kickoff 29-yards to UWL's 39-yard line. The Eagles used nine plays to go 61 yards in 4:12 to take a 7-0 lead as Keyser Helterbrand scored on a two-yard run with 10:42 left in the first quarter. Helterbrand converted a pair of third-down throws on the drive, including a 24-yard completion to Wyatt Lemoine on third-and-nine down to the Northern Michigan five-yard line.
Northern Michigan was forced to punt on its first possession after UWL's Tanner Newlin sacked quarterback Jake Bilitz on third-and-10. UWL went 74 yards in nine plays and 5:04 with Helterbrand throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Bartol with 4:14 left to give the Eagles a 14-0 advantage.
Michael Stack gave UWL a 17-0 lead with 12:04 remaining in the first half on a 36-yard field goal. After forcing another Wildcats' punt, Helterbrand was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage by Davion Brooks. Northern Michigan had first-and-goal at UWL's five-yard line, but two rushing attempts and an incomplete pass netted only one yard and Michael Karlen missed a 22-yard field goal with 7:49 left in the second quarter.
UWL extended its lead to 24-0 with 1:07 left in the half on Helterbrand's eight-yard touchdown pass to Bartol. The drive went 80 yards in 13 plays and 6:42. Northern Michigan got on the scoreboard with :01 remaining on Karlen's 44-yard field goal to cut the halftime lead to 24-3.
Both teams punted on their opening drives of the second half. Northern Michigan drove to UWL's 14-yard line, but Karlen missed a 31-yard field goal attempt with 5:42 left in the third quarter. The Eagles turned the ball over on downs on their next drive and the score remained, 24-3, after three quarters.
UWL took a 27-3 lead with 6:24 left on Stack's 28-yard field goal after going 68 yards in 14 plays and 8:24. Northern Michigan punted on the next drive and UWL quickly took a 34-3 lead on Zach Weir's one-yard touchdown run with 3:41 remaining. Weir had a 34-yard completion to Jack Butcher on the drive. The Wildcats drove to the Eagles' 41-yard line on their final drive of the game, but were stopped on fourth-and-five.
UWL finished with 429 yards of offense Saturday, including 161 rushing and 268 passing. The Eagles totaled 23 first downs in the game, went 10-of-14 on third-down and won the time of possession, 39:45 to 20:15.
Helterbrand went 19-of-23 for 217 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Bartol led the team with six catches for 90 yards and the two touchdowns while Wyatt Lemoine had four catches for 71 yards. Jack Studer finished with four catches for 29 yards. Brant Bohman led in rushing for UWL with 67 yards on 13 carries. Gabe Lynch had 49 yards on nine attempts and Dayo Oye totaled 39 yards on 11 rushing attempts.
Northern Michigan was held to 200 yards, including 126 rushing and 74 passing. The Wildcats had 12 first downs and were two-of-11 on third-down. Bilitz finished nine-of-14 passing for Northern Michigan for 42 yards. He also rushed for 24 yards. Sam Pfeiffer had five catches for 36 yards while Tyquan Cox finished with 84 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
Landon Oine and Ryan Daines led UWL with seven tackles each while Mitch Larkin led Northern Michigan with 15 tackles.
UWL returns to action Saturday, September 30 hosting UW-Stout in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.