Box Score UW-La Crosse 19, UW-Stevens Point 16

Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football opened its 2012 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) season with a 19-16 victory at UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.  The Eagles improve to 2-2 overall while the Pointers, also playing their league opener, drop to 1-3 overall.

UW-L was forced to punt on its first possession of the game and UW-Stevens Point went 59 yards on six plays in 2:49 to take the lead as Jesse Vervelde hit a 35-yard field goal with 11:40 left in the first quarter.  The Eagles took a 6-3 lead on their next possession as Ben Hertrampf scored on a 19-yard touchdown run with 7:23 remaining in the first quarter. Adam Pannier's extra-point attempt was missed. UW-L went 78 yards on 11 plays in 4:15 as it converted a pair of third-down attempts.

The Eagles led 6-3 at the end of the first quarter, but the Pointers regained the lead on the first play of the second quarter. Mitch Beau threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Theo Maglio and Vervelde's extra-point made it 10-6. UW-Stevens Point went 87 yards on six plays in 2:12.

Beau was later intercepted by UW-L's Jacob Flegner with 12:23 left in the second quarter. The Eagles used the turnover to take a 13-10 lead with Jake Welch scoring on a 36-yard touchdown run. Pannier converted the extra-point. The Eagles went 79 yards on four plays in 1:43 with Andy Sires completing a 41-yard pass to Tony Bilderback to the Pointers' 36-yard line setting up Welch's touchdown.

UW-Stevens Point forced a 13-13 halftime tie with Vervelde hitting a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. The Pointers' drive, which went 40 yards on eight plays in :55, was set-up after Jymani Bryant recoved a Sires' fumble.

The only scoring of the third quarter came on Vervelde's third field goal of the game, this time from 25-yards out to give UW-Stevens Point a 16-13 lead with 12:35 left. The Pointers went 65 yards on six plays in 2:25 after taking the second half kickoff.

Pannier had his 22-yard field goal attempt blocked by Bryant on UW-L's next possession. UW-Stevens Point turned the ball over on its next possession with the Eagles recovering a fumble on UW-L's 26-yard line. After the Eagles were forced to punt on their next possession, Beau was intercepted by UW-L's Max Nicholson at the Eagles' 40-yard line. UW-L was forced to punt after the interception.

After forcing UW-Stevens Point to punt late in the fourth quarter, UW-L took over at its own 13-yard line with 2:32 remaining. Sires threw four straight completions to start the drive, including an opening 26-yard pass completion to Jeff Haffemann. Sires then connected with Alex Lepp for 27-yards to the UW-Stevens Point 34-yard line. Welch caught a five-yard pass and Lepp a four-yard completion to take the ball to the 25-yard line.

Facing a third-and-one, Sires failed to make the first down on a run, but then converted fourth-and-one with a one-yard gain. Sires threw a 18-yard pass to Haffemann on third-and-10 to the Pointers' six-yard line. Three plays later, Jared Stan scored on a three-yard run with :16 left to give UW-L a 19-16 lead. The extra-point attempt was not converted after a bad snap. The Eagles went 87 yards on 12 plays in 2:16.

UW-Stevens Point, receiving votes on this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll, took the ball to its own 37-yard line at the end of the game. 

UW-L finished with a season-high 376 yards of offense Saturday, including 107 rushing and 269 passing. The 269 passing yards were also a season-high. The Eagles totaled 20 first downs and were seven-of-18 on third-down.

Sires finished 19-of-38 for 269 yards while being sacked six times. Stan caught four passes for 39 yards while Bilderback had three receptions for 80 yards. Welch finished with three catches for 37 yards and Brock Mc Mullen three for 21 yards. Hertrampf (six carries) and Stan (16) each had 45 yards rushing.

UW-Stevens Point had 397 yards, including 95 rushing and 302 passing. The Pointers finished with 21 first downs and were six-of-16 on third-down.

Beau was 21-of-36 for 302 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Marc Young caught nine passes for 52 yards while Maglio had eight receptions for 201 yards. Ethan Lockhart finished with 93 yards rushing on 26 attempts.

Jack Leahy led the UW-L defense with 11 tackles, including seven unassisted, while Jake Meckstroth had nine tackles, including eight unassisted. Brett Benson finished with six unassisted tackles.

Christian Hallingstad averaged 48.1 yards on eight punts for the Eagles with three inside the 20-yard line and three over 50-yards.

Cody Seibel had 17 tackles to lead UW-Stevens Point with 12 unassisted. Bo Seibel finished with eight tackles, including seven unassisted.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, October 6 hosting UW-Platteville at 1 p.m. in the Eagles' home opener.