Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell 24-17 to 17th-ranked UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.  The Eagles drop to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pioneers improve to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference.  UW-Platteville is ranked 17th on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll. 

UW-L took the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards in 10 plays and 4:32 to take a 7-0 lead.  On the first play from scrimmage, John Tackett had a 38-yard completion to Jack Zwettler to put the ball at UW-Platteville's 35-yard line.  Facing fourth-and-two later in the drive from the Pioneers' 27-yard line, Scott Shewmon caught an 11-yard pass from Tackett for a first down.  Five plays later, Andrew Thompson scored on a one-yard run. Eric Wittkowse's extra-point gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 10:32 remaining in the first quarter.

UW-Platteville, which earned its sixth straight win over UW-L, drove to the Eagles' eight-yard line on its first drive of the game.  The Pioneers faced a fourth-and-three, but Grant Schultz and Jon Becker stopped Andy Puccini for a one-yard gain.  The Eagles got to the Pioneers' 48-yard line on their next drive, but fumbled with UW-Platteville's Patrick Swanson recovering.

The Pioneers' Pat Frio missed a 38-yard field goal with 12:54 left in the second quarter on the ensuing drive.  After UW-L was forced to punt, UW-Platteville drove to the Eagles' 14-yard line. Facing fourth-and-eight, wide receiver Russell Martin was intercepted by UW-L's Ryan Weber in the end zone.

Yoel Wonsey intercepted Tackett on UW-L's next possession, but UW-Platteville was forced to punt.  UW-L took over at its own 16-yard line with 4:03 remaining in the first half. On second-and-17 from midfield, Tony Bilderback caught a 14-yard pass to make it third-and-three from the Pioneers' 36-yard line.  Tackett hit Chris Stackhouse with a nine-yard completion for a first down followed by a 25-yard connection with Ben Hertrampf down to the UW-Platteville two-yard line.  After a Pioneers' timeout with :11 remaining, Hertrampf was stopped at the one-yard line on the final play of the half.  UW-L led 7-0 at halftime.

The teams traded punts on the first two possessions of the third quarter.  UW-Platteville then went 79 yards in 15 plays and 7:54 to force a 7-7 tie as Puccini scored on a nine-yard run. Frio's extra-point tied the game with 3:20 remaining in the quarter.  Puccini had 49 yards rushing on the drive.

UW-L took a 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter as Wittkowske hit a 32-yard field goal with 14:20 remaining. The Eagles went 41 yards in eight plays and 3:58. Thompson completed both of his passing attempts for 29 yards on the drive (Tommy Young 12-yard completion; Hertrampf 17-yard completion).

UW-Platteville took its first lead of the game on its next possession.  The Pioneers went 69 yards in 11 plays and 4:58 with Bryce Corrigan throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Munda. Frio's extra-point made it 14-10 with 9:23 remaining.

The Eagles took over at its own 42-yard line on the following kickoff, which included a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Pioneers.  UW-L faced a third-and-19 on the drive, but Thompson connected with Joel Oxton for 26 yards down to the UW-Platteville 29-yard line. Shewmon later had a 19-yard catch to the four-yard line and Hertrampf scored on a four-yard run.  The Eagles went 58 yards in nine plays and 3:48.  Wittkowske's extra-point made it 17-14 with 5:32 left.

Frio tied the game at 17-17 with 2:49 left when he hit a 33-yard field goal. The Pioneers went 55 yards in 13 plays and 2:43.

UW-L took over at its own 25-yard line with 2:44 remaining.  Facing third-and-13 at its own 22, Hertrampf had a 15-yard run for a first down. Later in the drive, UW-Platteville called a timeout with 1:36 left as UW-L faced a third-and-eight at its own 39-yard line.  Thompson hit Bilderback for 11-yards, but UW-L was called for a facemask setting the ball back at the 24-yard line. The Eagles were then called for false start and faced third-and-23. Hertrampf ran to midfield on a draw play, but UW-L was called for holding.  The Eagles were later forced to punt from their own 27-yard line.

UW-Platteville took over its own 35-yard line with :39 remaining. Corrigan hit Trevor Whitehead for nine yards and Puccini had a 10-yard rush to put the ball at UW-L's 46-yard line. After a spike on first down, Corrigan hit Whitehead for a 46-yard touchdown pass with :08 left to give UW-Platteville the lead. Frio's extra-point made it 24-17 as the Pioneers went 65 yards in four plays and :36.

Jacob Flegner returned the ensuing kickoff to the UW-L 39-yard line. Thompson completed an 11-yard pass to Stackhouse and after a couple of laterals, the Eagles were stopped on the final play of the game at their own 48-yard line.

UW-L finished with 381 yards of offense, including 120 rushing and 261 passing.  The Eagles had 18 first downs while finishing six-of-15 on third-down and two-of-two on fourth down. 

Hertrampf had 112 yards rushing on 27 attempts and a touchdown, recording his fourth 100-yard game of the season and ninth in his carer. He ranks eighth in career rushing yards (2,373) and seventh in career rushing attempts (500).

Tackett went eight-of-11 passing for 144 yards with an interception Saturday while Thompson finished 10-of-11 for 117 yards.  Thompson was sacked five times.  Hertrampf caught four passes for 65 yards while Stackhouse finished with four receptions for 36 yards.  Shewmon had 36 yards on three catches. 

UW-Platteville totaled 433 yards, including 176 rushing and 257 passing. The Pioneers had 26 first downs while going 11-of-18 on third-down and one-of-three on fourth-down.  UW-Platteville won the time of possession, 30:59 to 29:01. 

Puccini had 176 yards on 32 attempts (5.5 average) with one touchdown.  He went over 1,000-yards (1,105) for the season.  Corrigan went 30-of-43 passing for 257 yards with two touchdowns.  Whitehead had 12 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown while Martin finished with 94 yards on nine receptions. 

Flegner led UW-L's defense with 11 tackles, including seven unassisted.  Shane Rockweiler recorded 10 tackles while Jake Perner had eight and Jon Becker seven.  Noah Risch and Reese Felton each had seven tackles with Risch recording 1.0 tackle for loss.  Weber had an inteception. 

Robinson led UW-Platteville with 12 tackles, including nine unassisted.  He had 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 quarterback sacks.  Colin Griffin and Rob Austin each had 11 tackles, including seven unassisted. 

UW-L returns to action Saturday, November 15 at UW-Eau Claire at 11:30 a.m. in the season-finale for both teams.