Box Score UW-Eau Claire 24, UW-La Crosse 9

Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell 24-9 at UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon at Carson Park.  The Eagles drop to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the WIAC while the Blugolds improve to 2-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference. It is UW-Eau Claire's fifth win in the last six meetings with UW-L and its sixth straight victory at Carson Park over the Eagles. 

UW-Eau Claire took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards on 11 plays in 5:32 as Joel Sweeney scored on a 16-yard run to make it 7-0.  UW-L was forced to punt on its first possession and UW-Eau Claire drove to the Eagles' 12-yard line, but Josh Albrecht missed a 29-yard field goal attempt. 

The Eagles fumbled on the next play from scrimmage with the Blugolds' Nevin Smith recovering at UW-L's 20-yard line. Four plays later Albrecht converted a 34-yard field goal to give UW-Eau Claire a 10-0 lead with 14:08 remaining in the second quarter. 

UW-L punted on its next drive and UW-Eau Claire took a 17-0 lead as Sweeney scored on a one-yard run with 5:49 left in the first half. The Blugolds went 64 yards on 13 plays in 6:13. 

The Eagles cut the lead to 17-3 on their next drive as Adam Pannier made a 21-yard field goal. UW-L went 67 yards on 12 plays in 3:48. 

UW-Eau Claire led 17-3 at halftime. 

UW-L cut the lead to 17-9 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter with Andy Sires scoring on a one-yard run. The drive went 37 yards on five plays in 1:36.  Pannier's extra-point attempt was blocked.  UW-Eau Claire finished the scoring with 12:50 remaining in the game as Sweeney scored on a six-yard run. The Blugolds went 37 yards on five plays in 2:09. 

UW-L finished with 270 yards of offense, including 146 rushing and 124 passing. The Eagles were five-of-14 on third-down and had three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception). 

Sires was 15-of-30 passing for 124 yards with an interception. Dillon Bean had 64 yards rushing on 12 attempts while Jared Stan had 62 yards on 14 carries.  Jake Welch led the team with four receptions for 52 yards. Stan (19 yards) and Jeff Haffemann (17) each had three catches. 

UW-Eau Claire totaled 350 yards of offense, including 293 rushing and 57 passing. The Blugolds were eight-of-17 on third-down and won the time of possession, 36:29 to 23:31. 
 
Austin Neu was four-of-12 passing for 57 yards. Sweeney had 185 yards rushing on 41 attempts and three touchdowns. Four different players had a catch for the Blugolds. 

Jake Meckstroth and Tyler Argall led UW-L with 11 solo tackles each. Shane Rockweiler had eight unassisted tackles, including two quarterbacks sacks. Ben Mathias also had one tackle for loss. 

Christian Hallingstad averaged 49.2 yards on six punts with a long of 68-yards. The 68-yard punt is tied for eighth-longest in school history. Jerry Faust had a school record 81-yard punt versus UW-Stout in 1997.

Tyler Janus finished with eight solo tackles for UW-Eau Claire while Collin Hustad finished with seven. 

UW-L returns to action Saturday, October 20 hosting UW-Stout at 1 p.m.