Box Score La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened its 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) schedule with a 35-14 victory over UW-River Falls Saturday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.  The Eagles improve to 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in the WIAC while the Falcons fall to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. 

UWL, receiving votes on this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll, improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2009 and earned a WIAC season-opening win for the first time since a 19-16 victory at UW-Stevens Point in 2012.  The Eagles last started 5-0 in 1996 when they won their first nine games. UWL has not started 2-0 in the WIAC since 2006 with wins over UW-Stevens Point (36-14) and UW-Platteville (28-21). 

UWL got on the board first with 10:06 left in the opening quarter after Steve Law intercepted a Sawyer Moon pass at the Falcons' 25-yard line. Two plays later Tarek Yaeggi hit Samuel Zwieg on a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 6-0.  Joshua Fischer's extra-point was blocked.  

The Eagles took a 14-0 lead with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter as the team went 80 yards in 15 plays and 6:20 with Yaeggi scoring on a one-yard touchdown run.  Yaeggi went five-of-six passing on the drive.  UWL faked the extra-point attempt with holder Matt Williquette tossing the ball to Fischer who ran in for two points to make it 14-0.  After forcing a three-and-out on UW-River Falls' next possession, UWL took a 21-0 advantage with 3:53 left in the first half with Tyler Jenkins scoring on a one-yard run.  The Eagles went 83 yards on eight plays and 2:40.  Ryan Weber intercepted Moon on the Falcons' next drive at the UWL 37-yard line.  Yaeggi's 14-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Kruser gave UWL a 28-0 lead with :59 remaining in the second quarter.  The drive went 63 yards in eight plays and 1:16.

UW-River Falls cut the lead to 28-7 on the first possession of the second half with Moon throwing a 11-yard touchdown pass to Rance Ashley with 11:57 left in the quarter. Francisco Perez converted the extra-point.  UWL responded on its next drive taking a 35-7 lead with Austin Mancosky scoring on a two-yard run with 10:37 remaining.  The Eagles went 75 yards on five plays and 1:28. Jenkins had a 66-yard run on the drive. 

Moon scored on an eight-yard run with 13:14 left in the fourth quarter for UW-River Falls to make it 35-14.  The Falcons went 36 yards in four plays and 1:19 after recovering an Eagles' fumble at the UWL 36-yard line.

UWL finished with 525 yards of offense Saturday, including 223 rushing and 302 passing.  The Eagles totaled 30 first downs while winning the time of possession, 34:12 to 25:48.  UWL was seven-of-14 on third-down while finishing with 10 penalties for 100 yards. 

Jenkins had 139 yards rushing on 19 attempts (7.3 average) and one touchdown while Yaeggi went 22-of-34 passing for 302 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.  Zwieg caught six passes for 97 yards while Nick Holcomb finished with five catches for 104 yards. 

UW-River Falls totaled 266 yards of offense, including 158 rushing and 108 passing.  The Falcons finished with 14 first downs while going one-of-12 on third-down and zero-of-four on fourth-down.  UW-River Falls finished with 11 penalties for 86 yards. 

Ashley led the Falcons with 65 yards rushing on six carries (10.8 average) while Moon went six-of-26 passing for 101 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.  Alex Hohensten led UW-River Falls with three catches for 42 yards. 

Peter Krien led UWL with eight tackles Saturday, including five unassisted.  Krien, Law and Weber each recorded an interception. Peter Kissling, Sam Phillips, Noah Risch and Jacob Gerzsik each had six tackles with Kissling and Phillips finishing with five unassisted.  Phillips also had a quarterback sack. 

Tyler Ledbeter led UW-River Falls with 10 tackles, including six unassisted, while Robbie Flom and Albert Itula each had nine tackles. Flom had a game-high eight unassisted tackles while Itula recorded an interception. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, October 8 at UW-Stout at 2 p.m.