Box Score Waukesha, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team completed its non-conference schedule with a 41-7 victory at Carroll University (Wis.) Saturday afternoon at Schneider Stadium.  The Eagles improve to 3-0 on the season while the Pioneers drop to 0-3 in the first meeting between the teams since 1980 when UWL earned a 38-13 victory.

With the win, UWL finishes 3-0 in non-conference play for the first time since 2009 when it defeated East Texas Baptist University (28-13), Azusa Pacific University, Calif. (49-24) and Missouri University of Science and Technology (48-0).

UWL, receiving votes on this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll, took the opening kickoff and a 7-0 lead with 11:17 left in the first quarter as wide receiver Ryan Kruser threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Joel Oxton.  Joshua Fischer connected on the extra-point attempt.  The Eagles went nine plays and 72 yards on the drive.  UWL took a 14-0 advantage with 2:02 remaining in the first quarter with Tarek Yaeggi throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Trent Milliken.  The drive went 57 yards in eight plays.

Carroll (Wis.) was forced to punt on its first three possessions of the game. The Eagles' defense made it 21-0 on the Pioneers' fourth drive as Matt Williquette returned a Carroll (Wis.) fumble 47-yards for a touchdown with 13:38 left in the second quarter.

UWL took a 28-0 halftime lead with 3:04 left in the second quarter as Yaeggi scored on a five-yard run.  The Eagles went 66 yards on nine plays.

The Eagles scored their second defensive touchdown of the game with 8:29 remaining in the third quarter with Brock Hertrampf forcing a Pioneers' fumble and recovering it in the end zone to give UWL a 35-0 lead.

Carroll (Wis.) got on the board with 4:27 left in the third with Kyle Burlingame throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ehrke.  The Pioneers went 81 yards in nine plays with Taylor Plehn converting the extra-point. 

Fischer added a pair of field goals to finish the scoring. He hit from 22-yards out with :45 left in the third quarter after Steve Law intercepted a Burlingame pass and returned it 35-yards to the Pioneers' 14-yard line.  Fischer connected on a 26-yard field goal with 8:25 left in the fourth as UWL went 78 yards in 15 plays.

UWL finished with 482 yards of offense Saturday, including 125 rushing and 357 passing.  It marks the third consecutive game the Eagles have recorded at least 450 yards of offense for the first time since 2003 (five straight).  UWL finished with 481 yards in its 45-14 win at Luther College (Iowa) September 3 followed by 536 yards in a 65-14 home victory over Ripon College (Wis.) September 10. The 357 passing yards at Carrol (Wis.) are the most since totaling 398 in a 35-24 loss to the University of Dubuque (Iowa) September 7, 2013.

The Eagles totaled 28 first downs Saturday while finishing 10-of-19 on third-down and four-of-five in the red-zone.  UWL won the time of possession, 30:37 to 29:23.

 

Yaeggi finished 28-of-46 passing for a career-high 318 yards with one touchdown.  Oxton (145 yards) and Samuel Zwieg (98) both caught eight passes and set career-highs in receiving yards.  Kruser (48 yards) and Milliken (41) each had five receptions.  Tyler Jenkins led the Eagles with 68 yards rushing on 15 attempts.

Carroll (Wis.) totaled 215 yards of offense, including 35 rushing and 180 passing, while forced to punt 10 times.  The Pioneers finished with 12 first downs Saturday while going five-of-16 on third-down and one-of-one in the red-zone.  The 215 yards by Carroll (Wis.) are the fewest for a UWL opponent since Jamestown College (N.D.) totaled 141 yards on October 8, 2011.

UWL has allowed 11.7 points and 259.0 yards of offense (145.0 rushing; 114.0 passing) in the first three games of 2016. 

Burlingame went 17-of-26 passing for 180 yards with one touchdown and one interception.  Parker Zitzke caught six passes for 54 yards while Ehrke had four catches for 62 yards.  Bennett Kothe had a team-high 27 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

Noah Risch led UWL's defense Saturday with eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. Sam Phillips and Peter Krien finished with seven tackles each with Phillips recording 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 quarterback sack. Krien had 1.0 tackle for loss.  Jacob Gerzsik had 2.0 quarterback sacks Saturday.

Zach Kirby averaged 30.8 yards on four punts for UWL with one inside the 20-yard line.

Dillon O'Donoghue and Adam Sivia led Carroll (Wis.) with 10 tackles each. Austin Harter averaged 38.0 yards on 10 punts with one inside the 20-yard line.

UWL returns to action Saturday, October 1 hosting UW-River Falls at 4:05 p.m. in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams.