Naperville, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell, 35-27 at North Central College (Ill.) Saturday afternoon at ?Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Third Round.

UWL, ranked 13th on this week's D3football.com Top 25 Poll, ends its season at 8-3. North Central (Ill.), ranked first in the country, improves to 12-0 and advances to the national quarterfinals on Saturday, December 13.

The teams were meeting for the third time in NCAA Division III Playoff history. North Central (Ill.) has won all three contests, including a 34-20 home win in the second round in 2021 and a 55-42 victory in La Crosse during the quarterfinals in 2023.

UWL took the opening kickoff and a 7-0 lead as it went 81 yards in 12 plays and 4:52. The Eagles' Kyle Haas connected with Marko Rajkovic on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 10:04 left in the first quarter. Michael Stack's extra-point made it 7-0. The Eagles had five first downs on the drive and converted a pair of third-down attempts.
 

It marked the second time this season, and first since its opener, that North Central (Ill.) trailed in a game.

The teams traded punts on the next two possessions. North Central (Ill.) tied the game at 7-7 with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter on Donovan McNeal's five-yard touchdown run. The drive went 60 yards in nine plays and 4:32. Aidan Ellison converted the extra-point.

UWL drove to the North Central (Ill.) 28-yard line on the ensuing drive, but Haas was intercepted by Rahmareon Roby in the Cardinals' end zone. Five plays later, Garret Wilson hit Thomas Skokna with a 42-yard touchdown pass with 10:44 remaining in the second quarter to give North Central (Ill.) a 14-7 lead. The Cardinals went 80 yards in five plays and 2:12.

After forcing a UWL punt, North Central (Ill.) extended its lead to 21-7 with 3:39 left in the first half on Wilson's 14-yard touchdown run. The Cardinals used 4:05 to go 85 yards in eight plays.

The Eagles drove into Cardinals' territory on their next drive, but Roby returned a Haas interception 59-yards for touchdown to give North Central (Ill.) a 28-7 halftime lead with :32 remaining.

North Central (Ill.) punted on the opening drive of the third quarter and UWL cut the lead to 28-14 with 6:45 left on a three-yard touchdown pass on fourth-down from Haas to Rajkovic. The Eagles went 82 yards in 3:32 and nine plays.

Both teams punted and North Central (Ill.) maintained its 28-14 lead after three quarters.

The Cardinals took a 35-14 lead with 13:34 remaining on Sean Allen's six-yard touchdown run. North Central (Ill.) went 68 yards in 11 plays and 5:07.

UWL cut the deficit to 35-21 with 5:20 left after a 88-yard drive on 11 plays and 3:32 with Haas throwing a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rajkovic. The Eagles recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove to the Cardinals' 19-yard line, but Haas' fourth-down pass was incomplete.

After another North Central (Ill.) punt, UWL took over at its own 37-yard line with 1:52 remaining. Haas and Rajkovic combined for their fourth touchdown of the game, this one from 26-yards out, on the final play of the game to make it 35-27. The drive went 63 yards in 11 plays.

UWL finished with 418 yards on Saturday, including 71 rushing and 347 passing. The Eagles totaled 25 first downs in the game and were eight-of-16 on third-down while also finishing two-of-three on fourth-down.

Haas went 34-of-58 for 308 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Rajkovic, Jack Janke and Keaton Arendt each caught eight passes. Rajkovic had 100 yards receiving and four touchdowns while Janke totaled 87 yards and Arendt 79 yards. Tyler Bowman caught five passes for 45 yards.

The four touchdown passes from Haas are tied for third-most in a playoff game for UWL behind Jakob Parks and Keyser Helterbrand with five. Parks threw five touchdowns versus Albion College (Mich.) on November 20, 2021 while Helterbrand finished with five against Aurora University (Ill.) on November 25, 2023.

The 58 passing attempts for Haas ranks second in single-game school history while his 34 completions are third-most. Both are first in a playoff game for UWL. Tarek Yaeggi set school records with 39 completions and 66 attempts against UW-Platteville on November 12, 2016. Drew David finished with 35 completions versus UW-Oshkosh on October 21, 2017. 

Rajkovic's four touchdown catches are tied for second in single-game school history. Jerry Gilbertson had four versus UW-Milwaukee on October 29, 1962 and Scott Burnoski totaled four against UW-Whitewater on November 13, 2004. Nick Holcomb had a school record five touchdown catches versus UW-River Falls on November 11, 2017.

Rajkovic's four touchdown receptions are the most for UWL in a playoff game. It is also tied for third-most in an NCAA Division III Playoff game. Logan Deffner of Franklin College (Ind.) and Jasper Collins of the University of Mount Union (Ohio) have a single-game playoff record of five touchdown catches. 

Gabe Lynch led UWL with 44 rushing yards on 11 carries Saturday.

North Central (Ill.) totaled 408 yards with 229 rushing and 179 passing. The Cardinals finished with 21 first downs while going seven-of-12 on third-down. North Central (Ill.) won the time of possession, 30:51 to 29:09.

Wilson finished 16-of-26 for 168 yards with one touchdown while Skokna had nine receptions for 103 yards and one touchdown. McNeal totaled 149 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries.
Aaron Winters led UWL's defense with 13 tackles while Sam Baumgard recorded seven. Trent Mullen had 1.0 tackle for loss.

John Sullivan led North Central (Ill.) with nine tackles, including 2.0 for loss, and 1.0 quarterback sack. Jahmar Daniel and Kyler Green each had eight tackles. Roby recorded two interceptions.

Making its 16th appearance (1983, 1991-93, 1995-96, 1999, 2002-04, 2006, 2021-25) in school history in the NCAA III Championships, including fifth straight, UWL is now 21-14 all-time in NCAA playoff history with two (1992, 1995) national titles.
 
The five consecutive national championship berths are the first time UWL has accomplished the feat with six straight trips from 1988-93. The Eagles advanced to the second round a year ago, earning a 59-14 home victory over the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in the opening round before falling 24-13 at third-ranked Saint John's University (Minn.) in the second round.
 
UWL advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2023 for the sixth (1991-93, 1995-96, 2023) time in school history. Playing all three games at home in 2023, the Eagles earned victories over the University of Minnesota Morris (62-7) and Aurora University, Ill. (55-42) before falling in the quarterfinals to top-ranked North Central, Ill. (55-42).