Menomonie, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked 20th on this week's D3football.com and 21st on the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Polls, improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 33-31 victory at UW-Stout Saturday afternoon at Don and Nona Williams Stadium. The Blue Devils, receiving votes on both polls, drops to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference. 

It is UWL's 12th straight win over UW-Stout. The Blue Devils last win over the Eagles came in 2011 by the score of 10-0 in Menomonie.

Both teams punted on its first possession before UW-Stout got on the scoreboard first with Adam Moen throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Haakonson with 8:40 left in the first quarter. The drive went 64 yards in six plays and 2:05. UWL cut the lead to 7-3 with 6:33 remaining in the opening quarter on a Maddox Pratt 28-yard field goal. Gabe Lynch had a 56-yard run on the drive as the Eagles went 63 yards in six plays and 2:02.

The Blue Devils extended their lead to 14-3 with 2:24 left in the first quarter after Chase Hughes scored on a one-yard run. Hughes had a 23-yard run on the previous play setting up UW-Stout at the one-yard line. The drive went 75 yards in 10 plays and 4:06. The Eagles' Kyle Haas scored on a one-yard run with 10:52 remaining in the second quarter to cut it to 14-10. Haas hit Jack Janke with an 18-yard completion on third-and-15 to extend the drive. UWL went 63 yards in 12 plays and 6:27. 

After both teams traded punts, UW-Stout took a 21-10 lead with 1:54 left in the first half after Moen connected with Patrick Corcoran on a 29-yard touchdown pass. The Blue Devils used eight plays and 3:12 to give 51 yards. UWL cut the halftime deficit to 21-13 with Pratt hitting a 46-yard field goal with :02 remaining. Janke and Haas combined for a pair of third-down completions on the drive as the Eagles went 53 yards in 13 plays and 1:47.

On the first possession of the third quarter, UWL cut it to 21-20 as Lynch scored on a 31-yard run with 10:36 remaining. Janke and Keaton Arndt each had first-down catches on third-down. The Eagles used nine plays and 4:24 to go 75 yards. 

Both teams punted on the next two possessions. UWL's Ethan Tranel punted to the UW-Stout seven-yard line and a holding penalty moved the ball back to the four-yard line. Two plays later, Tate Pitcher sacked Moen for a safety to give the Eagles a 22-21 lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter. 

Luke Cool made a 48-yard field goal with 14:06 remaining in the game to give UW-Stout a 24-22 advantage as the Blue Devils went 64 yards in nine plays and 3:57. After both teams traded punts again, UWL needed three plays to regain the lead as Haas threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Braedon Ott with 8:32 left to make it 28-22. Haas and Jack Studer connected on the two-point conversion for a 30-22 lead. 

UW-Stout then went 65 yards in seven plays and 3:43 to take a 31-30 lead after Moen threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Haakonson with 4:49 remaining. Cool's extra-point gave the Blue Devils the one-point lead. UWL took over at its own 35-yard line after Cool's kickoff went out-of-bounds. The Eagles drove to the Blue Devils' seven-yard line and Pratt hit the eventual game-winning 25-yard field goal with :55 left to give UWL a 33-31 lead. The Eagles converted a pair of third-downs on the drive as UWL went 58 yards in 11 plays and 3:54.

On the ensuing drive starting at UW-Stout's 31-yard line, Moen hit Haakonson with a 14-yard completion on third-and-nine to put the ball at UWL's 44-yard line. Ross Gengler's quarterback sack of Moen on the next play moved the ball back the Eagles' 46-yard line and without a timeout, Moen was intercepted by Carver Cram at UWL's eight-yard line on the final play of the game. 

UWL finished with 472 yards, including 174 rushing and 298 passing. The Eagles had 22 first downs and went eight-of-17 on third-down. UWL was one-of-one on fourth-down and won the time of possession, 30:46 to 29:14. 

Haas went 22-of-38 for 298 yards with one touchdown while also rushing for one touchdown. Lynch totaled 166 yards rushing on 16 carries (10.4 average) and one touchdown. Jack Studer caught a team-high six passes for 81 yards while Janke finished with five receptions for 52 yards. Ott had four receptions for a team-high 85 yards with one touchdown. 

Pratt converted all three of his field goal attempts while Tranel averaged 34.2 yards on five punts with three inside the 20-yard line. 

Ryan Daines led UWL's defense with eight tackles, including seven unassisted. Landon Oine had six tackles.

UW-Stout totaled 415 yards with 92 rushing and 323 passing. The Blue Devils finished with 25 first downs while going six-of-12 on third-down and one-of-one on fourth-down. 

Moen finished 27-of-41 for 323 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Hughes led the Blue Devils with 36 yards rushing on six attempts and one touchdown. Haakonson caught seven passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Corcoran finished with six receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown. 

Cool converted his only field goal attempt for UW-Stout with Ben Karls averaging 36.8 yards on four punts and one inside the 20-yard line. 

Brooks Brewer led the Blue Devils with 14 tackles while Braxton Munnikhuysen recorded a pair of quarterback sacks. 

UWL returns to action Saturday, November 9 hosting UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m.