River Falls, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked 20th on D3football.com and in the American Football Coaches Association (AVCA), opened its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) season with a 45-23 win at UW-River Falls Saturday afternoon at Smith Stadium at Ramer Field. The Eagles improve to 3-1 overall while the Falcons drop to 3-1.  UW-River Falls was also playing in its conference opener.

UWL quickly took a 7-0 lead just :49 into the game with Joey Stutzman scoring on a 60-yard touchdown run. The run came on third-and-seven.  The Eagles' Jakob Parks connected with Cameron Sorenson on a three-yard touchdown pass with 6:16 remaining in the first quarter to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead. UWL went 80 yards in seven plays to take its 14-point lead.  
 

Later in the quarter, UW-River Falls faced fourth-and-goal at UWL's six-yard line, but Luke Fugate was stopped at the Eagles' one-yard line. UWL then went 99 yards to take a 21-0 lead as Parks threw his second touchdown of the first half with 13:34 left in the second quarter, hitting Jake Simuncak from 13-yards out. The drive went 99 yards in eight plays and 3:50 with Parks and Simuncak connecting on a 46-yard pass play.  The Falcons got on the board with 10:24 remaining in the first half as they went 96 yards in nine plays and 3:11.  Kole Hinrichsen hit Andy Groebner with a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-7. 

Parks quickly responded, throwing a 63-yard touchdown pass to Simuncak with 9:25 left in the second quarter.  UW-River Falls cut the margin to 28-14 as Hinrichsen hit Groebner with a 27-yard touchdown pass with 1:29 remaining.  The Falcons went 37 yards in four plays and :48.  The drive was set-up by Michael Brown's 63-yard interception return.  UWL led, 28-14, at halftime. 

UW-River Falls was forced to punt on its first possession of the third quarter and punter Bobby Patterson was stopped for a six-yard loss after a bad snap.  UWL took advantage of the miscue, going 38 yards in six plays and 2:34 with Parks hitting Simuncak on a nine-yard touchdown pass with 10:02 remaining for a 35-14 lead. 

Cade Henry's 43-yard field goal for UW-River Falls cut the deficit to 35-17 with 2:00 left in the third quarter. Ryan Beirne responded with a field goal of his own for UWL on the Eagles' next drive, hitting from 29-yards out with 12:50 remaining in the game.  UWL's Elijah Alt intercepted Hinrichsent on the Falcons' next drive and Brad Tobin scored on a 37-yard run with 10:25 left to give UWL a 45-17 advantage. UW-River Falls finished the scoring with a one-yard touchdown pass from Kaleb Blaha to Jager Reissmann with 1:15 remaining. The extra-point was missed. 

UWL finished with 567 yards of offense Saturday on 60 plays, an average of 9.4 yards per play. The Eagles totaled 252 yards rushing on 34 attempts while finishing with 315 yards passing. UWL totaled 18 first downs and went five-of-10 on third-down while going four-of-five in the red-zone.

Parks went 17-of-26 for 315 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Simuncak had three touchdown catches while finishing with five receptions for 139 yards. Sorenson had a team-high six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. Stutzman finished with 154 yards rushing on 17 carries (9.1 average) and a touchdown while Tobin went for 82 yards on 11 attempts (7.5 average) and a touchdown. 

UW-River Falls totaled 468 yards on 89 offensive plays. The Falcons finished with 138 yards rushing and 330 passing. UW-River Falls had 26 first downs in the game and won the time of possession, 31:58 to 28:02. The Falcons were five-of-18 on third-down and two-of-four in the red-zone. The Falcons entered the game averaging 55.0 points and 582.7 yards after the first three games this season.  

Hinrichsen went 23-of-39 for 282 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Ten different players caught a pass for UW-River Falls with Reissmann finishing with receptions for 49 yards and one touchdown. Blaha led the Falcons wiht 56 yards rushing on six attempts. 

Trevar Helland led UWL with seven tackles while Alt, Ryan Daines, Jack Kelly and AJ Spychala each had six.  Ten different players had a tackle for loss with Milkaso Dedefo, Jack Anderson and Ryan Gengler each recording a quarterback sack. Ben Ertz led UW-River Falls with seven tackles, including 2.0 for loss.

UWL returns to action Saturday, October 9 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 2 p.m. at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex for Family Weekend.