La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team dropped its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) home opener with a 24-18 loss to UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
The Eagles fall to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the WIAC while the Warhawks improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
SCHOOL RECORD:
*
Kyle Haas became UWL's career leader in touchdown passes with 49, breaking a tie of 48 with
Craig Kusick (1993-95).
RANKINGS:
* UWL entered the game ranked 18th on the D3football.com Top 25 Poll and 20th on the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25 Poll. UW-Whitewater is ranked fifth in both polls.
Kyle Haas became UWL's career leader in touchdown passes (49).
SERIES RECORD:
* UW-Whitewater leads the all-time series, 40-34, with UWL.
* The Warhawks snapped a three-game losing streak to the Eagles with Saturday's win. UWL hasn't won four straight in the series since five consecutive victories between 1992-96.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 1ST QUARTER:
* UWL turned the ball over on downs on the game's first possession on a Haas incompletion to
Nolan Wulf.
* The teams traded punts on the next two drives.
* UW-Whitewater got on the scoreboard first with :57 remaining on Grant Urban's 28-ayrd field goal. The Warhawks went 12 plays and 62 yards in 6:55.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 2ND QUARTER:
* UWL took its first lead of the game with 12:48 left on
Najeh Mitchell's 14-yard touchdown run.
Maddox Pratt's extra-point was good for a 7-3 lead. The Eagles went 75 yards in seven plays and 3:02.
* UW-Whitewater and UWL punted on its next possessions.
* The Warhawks went 69 yards in seven plays and 3:58 to regain the lead as Cole Warren scored on a three-yard run with 4:41 remaining. Urban's extra-point made it 10-7.
* After two punts, UWL took over at its own 20-yard line with 1:05 left. Haas ran to the UW-Whitewater 31-yard line on second down, but UWL didn't have any timeouts and the clock run out to give UW-Whitewater a 10-7 halftime lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3RD QUARTER:
* After UW-Whitewater punted on its first possession of the second half, Haas was intercepted on UWL's opening possession by the Warhawks' Drew Kortz at the UW-Whitewater 35-yard line. Kortz returning it to the Warhawks' 43-yard line.
* Warren connected with Tyler Vasey on the next play from scrimmage for a 57-yard touchdown pass to extend UW-Whitewater's lead to 17-7 with 9:48 remaining.
Najeh Mitchell scored on a 14-yard touchdown run.
* UWL punted on its next drive with UW-Whitewater starting at its own seven-yard line.
* Warren was called for intentional grounding in the end zone on UW-Whitewater's next possession, resulting in a safety to cut the lead to 17-9 with 5:19 left.
* Warren was later intercepted by UWL's
Sal Balistrieri, who returned it 44-yards to UW-Whitewater's 25-yard line.
* The Eagles cut the lead to 17-15 with Haas throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to
Calahan Miles with :25 remaining. UWL used five plays and 1:39 to drive 25 yards. The Eagles missed the potential game-tying two-point conversion.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 4TH QUARTER:
* UW-Whitewater took a 24-15 lead with 7:57 left as Warren connected with Luke Roeder on a 21-yard touchdown pass. The Warhawks went 80 yards in nine plays and 4:42.
* UWL responded on its next possession, going 29 yards in nine plays and 2:39 with Pratt making a 39-yard field goal with 5:08 remaining to cut the margin to 24-18.
* After a 17-yard punt by UW-Whitewater, UWL took over at the Warhawks' 42-yard line with 4:08. The Eagles had first and goal at the Warhawks' five-yard line after a pass interference call, but a rush for no gain, a quarterback sack by EJ Gritzner and two incompletions turned the ball over on downs.
* UW-Whitewater ran out the final 1:02.
UWL TEAM STATS:
* The Eagles finished with 340 yards, including 92 rushing and 248 passing. UWL had 23 first downs, finished seven-of-18 on third-down and one-of-three on fourth-down.
* UWL was two-of-three in the red-zone and won the time of possession, 30:52 to 29:08.
UWL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* Haas went 27-of-50 for 248 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
*
Brady Kuhn finished with 27 yards rushing on seven attempts while
Braeden Ott had 24 yards on nine carries. Haas totaled 23 yards on 12 rushing attempts.
*
Keaton Arendt led the team with nine catches for 71 yards.
Luke Gardner had four receptions for 67 yards and Wulf totaled six catches for 55 yards
*
Ben Ott had eight tackles while
Colin O'Neil finished with six and
Jack Wesolowski five.
UW-WHITEWATER TEAM STATS:
* The Warhawks totaled 328 yards, including 108 rushing and 220 passing. UW-Whitewater had 14 first downs and went six-of-16 on third-down while going two-of-two in the red-zone.
UW-WHITEWATER INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* Warren went 19-of-32 passing for 220 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
* Tommy Novotny led the Warhawks with 23 carries for 111 yards.
* Vasey had seven receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown while Roeder totaled three catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.
* Jayden Fowler recorded 10 tackles, including eight unassisted.
UP NEXT:
* UWL returns to Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports to host UW-Stevens Point on Saturday, October 17 at 1 p.m.
