La Crosse, Wis. - The UW-La Crosse football team finished its 2009 season with a 58-21 loss to second-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles finish 5-5 overall and 2-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks improve to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference.

With the win, UW-Whitewater clinches its fifth consecutive WIAC title and earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The brackets for the 2009 playoffs will be announced Sunday, Nov. 15.

The 58 points allowed by UW-L are the second-most in school history. UW-Whitewater scored 60 points in a victory (60-32) n 1987.

After punting on its first possession, the Warhawks recovered a Lee Lauters' fumble on the Eagles' 11-yard line with 10:30 left in the first quarter. Three plays later Jeff Donovan completed a four-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Wells and a 7-0 UW-Whitewater lead.

UW-L was forced to punt on its next possession and Donovan and Wells connected again for the Warhawks, this time from 61-yards out, for a touchdown and 14-0 lead.

It appeared UW-Whitewater would take a 21-0 lead later in the first quarter as Donovan hit Adam Brandes for 70 yards down to the UW-L two-yard line, but the Eagles' Matt Winney forced a fumble and Dustin Drath returned the ball back to the UW-L 38-yard line. The Eagles cut the margin to 14-7 with 12:37 remaining in the second quarter as Lauters scored on a one-yard run.

Derek Underwood returned the ensuing kickoff 54-yards for UW-Whitewater to the UW-L 40-yard line and eight plays later Donovan threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Brandes and a 21-7 lead. Christian Hallingstad's punt with :48 left in the second quarter was blocked by UW-Whitewater's Tim Depies for a safety and 23-7 halftime lead.

Levell Coppage scored on a two-yard run on the first drive of the second half to give the Warhawks a 30-7 lead. He added a four-yard touchdown run with 4:59 left in the third quarter to break UW-Whitewater's record for career rushing touchdowns (45) and the Warhawks led 37-7 at the end of three.

Antwan Anderson scored on runs of three and five yards early in the fourth quarter for a 51-7 lead. UW-L's Brock Larson scored on a one-yard run with 8:18 left in the game to make it 51-14 and C.J. Miller ran in from eight-yards out for UW-Whitewater with 4:43 remaining for a 58-14 lead. The Eagles finished the scoring with 1:28 left as Dan Trussoni threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Nate Ward.

UW-L finished with 288 yards of offense, including 98 rushing and 190 passing. Larson had 62 yards on nine carries while Lauters finished with 28 yards rushing on 18 attempts. Nick Anker was 17-of-27 passing for 148 yards and two interceptions while Trussoni was four-of-eight for 42 yards and a touchdown. Anker set a single-season school record with 197 completions.

Travis Bordeau had seven catches for 43 yards for the Eagles while Tyler Keeney had four catches for 77 yards.

UW-Whitewater totaled 594 yards, including 313 rushing and 281 passing. Coppage had 144 yards rushing on 15 attempts and two touchdowns while Miller finished with four carries and 76 yards and a score. Anderson had 18 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Donovan was 13-of-22 passing for 259 yards and three touchdowns.

Brandes finished with four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown while Wells had three receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns. UW-Whitewater averaged 8.9 yards per play and were seven-of-seven in red-zone opportunities.

Drath and Justin Hartwig each had seven tackles for UW-L while Aaron Johnson recorded six. Hartwig had two tackles for loss. Lane Olson led UW-Whitewater with nine tackles, including six solo. He also had 2.5 tackles for loss. Zach Christopherson and Sam Overton each had an interception.