Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned a 27-25 victory over UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.  The Eagles improve to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blugolds fall to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the conference.  It is UWL's third win in the last nine meetings with UW-Eau Claire and second straight after a 20-10 victory in Eau Claire last season.

UWL is now 3-0 at home this season.

It only took UWL three plays to take a 7-0 lead Saturday.  On the first play from scrimmage, Eric Rahman rushed 45-yards to the Blugolds' 30-yard line.  John Tackett completed a 20-yard pass to Joel Oxton and followed with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Zwieg with 14:12 remaining in the opening quarter.  Matt Van Druten converted the extra-point attempt as the drive went three plays and 75 yards in :52.

UW-Eau Claire drove to the UWL 26-yard line on its first possession of the game, but Liam O'Malley's 42-yard field goal was wide left.  The Blugolds went 47 yards on 13 plays and 7:15.  UWL quickly took a 14-0 lead on the next drive with Tackett throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass to Oxton.  Van Druten's extra-point was good with 4:05 left in the first quarter as UWL went 74 yards in eight plays and 2:55.

The Blugolds cut the margin to 14-7 with 2:06 remaining in the opening quarter as Toure Wallace scored on a 15-yard run.  O'Malley converted the extra-point as UW-Eau Claire went 65 yards (all rushing) in five plays and 1:57. 

UWL led 14-7 after the first quarter.  Entering Saturday, the Eagles had scored 13 points in the opening quarter through the first six games.

The Eagles took a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter as Tackett and Oxton connected for the second time for a touchdown, this one from 10-yards out with 13:29 left.  The drive went two plays and 90 yards in :29 after Austin Mancosky ran 80-yards on the opening play of the drive.  Van Druten converted his third straight extra-point.  After the teams traded punts, O'Malley made a 26-yard field goal with 5:09 remaining in the second quarter for UW-Eau Claire to cut UWL's lead to 21-10.  The Blugolds went 61 yards on eight plays and 3:41.  On its ensuing drive, UWL drove to the UW-Eau Claire 21-yard line, but a mishandled snap on a 38-yard field goal attempt gave the Blugolds the ball at their own 29-yard line.  O'Malley converted from 25-yards out on the drive with :02 left to make it 21-13 at halftime.  UW-Eau Claire went 63 yards in 12 plays and 1:51.  Quarterback JT Denhartog accounted for all 63 yards (23 rushing; 40 passing)

O'Malley hit his third field goal of the game, this one from 23-yards, with 2:15 left in the third quarter to cut UWL's lead to 21-16.  UW-Eau Claire went 69 yards in 10 plays and 5:13. UWL's Mike Santucci returned the ensuing kickoff 88-yards for a touchdown with 2:02 remaining in the third.  It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown for the Eagles since Eric Donoval's 80-yard return at UW-River Falls November 3, 2007.  Van Druten's extra-point was blocked to keep the score 27-16.

Matthew Knapp returned the following kickoff 70-yard for UW-Eau Claire, setting up the Blugolds at the Eagles' 30-yard line.  Wallace rushed for 25-yards on the next play from scrimmage, but UWL's defense held on the next three plays, including a Nicholas Peters quarterback sack on third-and-goal.   O'Malley made a 23-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the Eagles' lead to 27-19 with 14:58 left.

After a UWL punt, UW-Eau Claire cut the lead to 27-25 with 10:39 left in the game as Wallace scored on a seven-yard run.  The Blugolds, who went 63 yards in six plays and 2:32, failed on their two-point pass attempt to tie the game.  UWL was forced to punt on the next drive of game and UW-Eau Claire took over at its own 25-yard line with 7:12 left.  The Blugolds drove to the Eagles' 24-yard line, but O'Malley's 42-yard field goal went wide left with 2:32 remaining.

UWL picked up one first down on its next drive, but were forced to punt facing fourth-and-one at its own 49-yard line.  UW-Eau Claire, starting at its own 25-yard line, drove to its own 40, but Denhartog's fourth down pass was broken up by Ryan Weber with :09 remaining.

UWL finished with 327 yards of offense Saturday, including 174 rushing and 153 passing.  The Eagles had 16 first downs and missed on all eight of their third-down attempts.  Mancosky had 111 yards rushing on five attempts while Rahman finished with 102 yards on 11 carries.  It marked the first time UWL had two players rush for 100 yards since Donoval (248 yards) and Reid Oldenburg (107) in a 49-19 victory over UW-River Falls November 8, 2008.

Tackett went nine-of-14 for 128 yards and three touchdowns while Andrew Thompson finished two-of-five for 25 yards.  Oxton (81 yards, two touchdowns) and Zwieg (67 yards, one touchdown) each had five catches for UWL. 

Santucci finished with 152 kickoff yards, averaging 38.0 yards on four returns.  His 152 yards ranks sixth in single-game school history.  Jared Stan set a school record with 194 yards versus the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) September 20, 2014. 

UW-Eau Claire totaled 488 yards, including 365 rushing and 123 passing.  The Blugolds had 25 first downs and finished nine-of-19 on third-down.  UW-Eau Claire won the time of possession, 39:09 to 20:51.  Wallace had 235 yards rushing on 33 attempts while Denhartog finished with 125 yards on 24 carries.   Denhartog went 15-of-23 passing for 123 yards.  He was sacked five times.  Lucas Emmerich finished with four catches for 37 yards.

Michael Garvey led UWL's defense with 12 tackles while recording one quarterback sack.  Noah Risch and Ryan Weber each had 11 tackles (six unassisted) with Risch recording 3.0 tackles for loss and one quarterback sack.   Jacob Gerzsik finished with 10 tackles (six unassisted).  Matthew Salerno averaged 34.1 yards on seven punts.

Brandon Luedke led UW-Eau Claire wiht nine tackles while Carl Lightfoot finished with five tackles.  John Endres and Jayden Dobbs each had a quarterback sack.  Ian Scott averaged 37.5 yards on four punts.

UWL returns to action Saturday, October 31 at UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m.