La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened its 2017 season with a 27-7 victory over Luther College (Iowa) Saturday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.  The Eagles improve to 1-0 while the Norse drop to 0-1. It is UWL's third straight season-opening win over Luther (Iowa).

UWL, receiving votes on the D3football.com Top-25 Preseason Poll, won the opening toss and elected to receive. The Eagles drove five plays in 64 yards and 1:23 to take a 7-0 lead as Tarek Yaeggi connected with Tripp Soma on a 17-yard touchdown catch with 13:44 left in the first quarter. Bryce Wesling converted the extra point.

Both teams turned the ball over on downs on their next possessions. Luther (Iowa) was stopped at the UWL 36-yard line on a fourth-and-two play while the Eagles had three plays at the Norse' one-yard line, but failed to convert. The game was delayed by 1:06 on UWL's second drive of the game due to weather. The Eagles led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Yaeggi hit Nick Holcomb for a 30-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-five with 14:16 left in the second quarter to give UWL a 14-0 lead after Wesling's extra point. The drive went 11 plays and 74 yards in 4:07.  The Eagles took a 17-0 halftime lead after Michael Pakos hit a 28-yard field goal with 1:46 remaining in the second quarter. UWL went 69 yards in 12 plays and 5:18. 

After UWL stopped Luther (Iowa) quarterback Brady Letney on a fourth-and-two play at the Eagles' 15-yard line with 8:48 left in the third quarter, UWL drove 86 yards in 13 plays and 3:02 for a 24-0 advantage.  Yaeggi threw his third touchdown of the game, hitting Devonte Amos on a 36-yard pass play.  Wesling made the extra point. The Norse fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Wesling's 32-yard field goal with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter gave the Eagles a 27-0 lead.

Luther (Iowa) got on the board early in the fourth quarter as Letney hit Justin Montgomery on a four-yard touchdown pass. The Norse went 79 yards in eight plays and 3:28 as Cory Wirth converted the extra point.  Luther (Iowa) later drove to the UWL 27-yard line, but four straight incompletions ended the drive.

UWL finished with 442 yards of offense, including 136 rushing and 306 passing. Yaeggi went 28-of-44 passing for 306 yards and three touchdowns while Holcomb totaled nine catches for 115 yards and one touchdown. Soma finished with five catches for 50 yards and Amos four for 66 yards as both caught a touchdown pass.  Yaeggi recorded his sixth career 300-yard passing game in 10 starts with his 306 yards Saturday night.  He has at least two touchdown passes in eight of 10 career starts.

Mike Santucci led the Eagles with 57 yards rushing on 11 carries.  UWL went nine-of-18 on third down, three-of-five in red-zone opportunities and won the time of possession, 30:38 to 29:22.

Luther (Iowa) totaled 373 yards, including 280 rushing and 93 passing. The Norse were six-of-14 on third-down and missed all four of their fourth-down attempts.  The team finished one-of-three in the red-zone.

Letney went 4-for-8 passing for 69 yards and one touchdown. Ricardo Chavez finished with three catches for 68 yards. Anthony Hollingshed finished with 136 yards rushing on 12 attempts (11.3 average).

Nicholas Peters led UWL's defense with nine tackles, including five unassisted, while Michael Garvey had seven tackles, including a team-high six unassisted. Both players had 1.0 tackle for loss.  Josh Neary and Ryan Weber had six tackles.

David Ponath finished with 11 tackles for Luther (Iowa), including nine unassisted. Dante Joseph had nine tackles with seven unassisted.

UWL returns to action Saturday, September 9 at Ripon College (Wis.) at 1 p.m.