Box Score Eau Claire, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team dropped its second straight game with a 20-14 loss at UW-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon at Carson Park. The Eagles, receiving votes on the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Polls, falls to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). With the win, the Blugolds improve to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
It is UW-Eau Claire's seventh win in the last 10 meetings with UWL and 10th in the last 14. UWL dropped its first road game of the season Saturday, falling to 3-1.
Both teams were forced to punt on its first possessions of the game before UWL took a 7-0 lead with 10:09 left in the first quarter with
Ben Schramski throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to
Joel Oxton.
Joshua Fischer converted the extra-point as the Eagles went three plays in 27 yards and :49. The drive was set-up at the UW-Eau Claire 27-yard line after
Ryan Kruser's 18-yard punt return. UWL led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Blugolds tied the game with 11:54 remaining in the second quarter with JT Denhartog's 20-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Knapp. Austin Kolden converted the extra-point as UW-Eau Claire went 48 yards in four plays and 3:06. Denhartog went three-for-three on the drive for 45 yards. The Blugolds took a 10-7 lead after forcing an Eagles' punt. UW-Eau Claire went 54 yards in 15 plays and 8:27 with Kolden hitting from 44-yards out with 1:42 left in the first half.
UW-Eau Claire led 10-7 at halftime. The Blugolds took the second half kickoff and drove 76 yards in nine plays and 4:55 to take a 17-7 lead as Denhartog scored on a one-yard run. UWL responded on its next drive to cut its deficit to 17-14 with Schramski scoring on an 11-yard run with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles went 13 plays and 80 yards in 4:33.
After forcing a UW-Eau Claire punt, UWL drove the Blugolds' seven-yard line, but Fischer's 25-yard field goal went wide right. UW-Eau Claire led 17-14 after three quarters and Kolden gave the Blugolds a 20-14 lead with 13:23 remaining in the game as he connected on a 33-yard field goal. UW-Eau Claire went 77 yards in five plays and 1:48.
UWL had two more opportunities in UW-Eau Claire territory. The Eagles drove to the Blugolds' three-yard line, but Schramski was stopped at the two-yard line on fourth-and-two at the UW-Eau Claire three-yard line. UWL forced a punt on UW-Eau Claire's next possession, taking over at its own 47-yard line. The Eagles drove to the Blugolds' 29-yard line, but Schramski was intercepted by Ryan Ames at the UW-Eau Claire five-yard line with :34 remaining.
UWL finished with 327 yards of offense Saturday, including 154 rushing and 173 passing. The Eagles were four-of-12 on third-down and one-of-two on fourth-down while going two-of-four in the red-zone. Schramski went 23-of-32 passing for 173 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 48 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.
Tyler Jenkins had 12 attempts for 52 yards.
Samuel Zwieg caught six passes for 43 yards for UWL while Oxton (35 yards, one touchdown) and
Trent Milliken (20 yards) each had four catches. Oxton now has a touchdown catch in 13 of his last 17 games.
UW-Eau Claire totaled 286 yards of offense, including 153 rushing and 133 passing. The Blugolds finished four-of-14 on third-down and two-of-two on fourth down while finishing four-of-four in the red-zone. UW-Eau Claire won the time of possession, 35:24 to 24:36. Denhartog was 11-of-14 for 133 yards with one touchdown while rushing for 28 yards and one touchdown on 24 attempts. Antwan Moore had 111 yards rushing on 11 carries (10.1 average) while catching six passes for 53 yards.
Luke Winnen led UWL with seven tackles while
Peter Krien finished with five. Bo Casper led UW-Eau Claire with 13 tackles with Ross Curran finishing with 11.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 29 hosting UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m. at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
