La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team ended its two-game losing streak with a 41-30 win over UW-River Falls Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
UWL improves to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while UW-River Falls drops to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
RANKINGS:
* UW-River Falls entered the game ranked 14th on the D3football.com Top 25 Poll and 18th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25 Poll.
SERIES RECORD:
* UWL leads the all-time series, 69-33-7, with UW-River Falls.
* The Eagles have won 29 of the last 33 meetings.
* UWL has won the last six meetings in La Crosse. UW-River Falls last earned a win in La Crosse in 2011 (28-21 in overtime).
Kyle Haas went 31-of-53 for 287 yards and three touchdowns.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 1ST QUARTER:
* After UWL punted on the game's first possession, UW-River Falls took a 7-0 lead with Frank Daniels throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Austin Rush with 12:03 remaining. Johnny Figgins converted the extra point.
* The Eagles were forced to punt on their second drive and three plays later, Peter McDevitt hit Rush with a 40-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead with 10:22 left.
* UWL cut the lead to 14-3 with :08 remaining on
Maddox Pratt's 22-yard field goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 2ND QUARTER:
* UWL blocked a UW-River Falls punt with 4:49 left and the Eagles took advantage with Cade Myszeski scoring on an eight-yard touchdown pass from
Kyle Haas with 4:32 remaining to cut the lead to 14-10.
* After forcing a Falcons' punt, Pratt made a 40-yard field goal with :09 left to cut it to 14-13.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3RD QUARTER:
* Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter.
* The Falcons extended their lead to 21-13 with 5:39 remaining on McDevitt's four-yard touchdown pass. The duo connected on a 24-yard completion earlier on the drive.
* UWL cut it to 21-19 with 3:10 left after Haas' 20-yard touchdown pass to Ott. The extra-point was missed.
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Brett Hemmersbach recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff with UWL taking over at the UW-River Falls' 28-yard line. Four plays later,
Keaton Arendt caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Haas with 1:55 remaining. The extra-point made it 26-21.
* Trevor Asher scored on a three-yard run with :12 left to give UW-River Falls a 27-26 lead. The two-point conversion was missed.
Braeden Ott had seven catches for 53 yards and one touchdown.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 4TH QUARTER:
* UWL outscored UW-River Falls, 15-3, in the final quarter.
* Pratt's 46-yard field goal with 12:02 remaining gave the Eagles a 29-27 lead.
* The teams traded punts on its next possessions.
* UW-River Falls regained the lead at 30-29 with 4:17 left on Figgins' 22-yard field goal.
* UWL needed four plays to take a 35-30 lead with 2:39 remaining as
Brady Kuhn scored on a nine-yard run.
Najeh Mitchell had runs of 14 and 57 yards on the first two plays of the drive. The Eagles' missed the two-point conversion.
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Sal Balistrieri intercepted McDevitt on the Falcons' next possession.
* The Eagles turned the ball over on downs with the Falcons taking over at their own 16-yard line with :12 left.
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Ben Ott scored on a 27-yard fumble return on the final play of the game after 16 laterals by UW-River Falls.
UWL TEAM STATS:
* The Eagles finished with 441 yards of offense, including 154 rushing and 287 passing. UWL had 25 first downs and finished seven-of-20 on third-down and two-of-three on fourth-down.
* UWL was six-of-eight in the red-zone and won the time of possession, 33:02 to 26:58.
UWL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* Haas finished 31-of-53 for 287 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
* Mitchell led the Eagles with 76 yards rushing on 10 carries while Kuhn totaled 32 yards and one touchdown on nine attempts.
* Arendt (58), Ott (53) and Myszewski (53) each had over 50 yards receiving with Arendt finishing with five catches, Ott with seven and Myszewski with four.
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Brodie Mickschl tied Ott for the team lead with seven catches while finishing with 44 yards.
* Pratt was three-of-three in field goal attempts, converting from 22, 40 and 46-yards.
* Ott had a team-high 11 tackles, including 1.0 for loss.
Colin O'Neil recorded 10 tackles.
Sal Balistrieri recorded an interception in the fourth quarter.
UW-RIVER FALLS TEAM STATS:
* The Falcons finished with 458 yards, including 168 rushing and 290 passing. UW-Rive Falls totaled 20 first downs while going two-of-12 on third-down and two-of-four on fourth-down.
* UW-River Falls was three-of-four in the red-zone.
UW-RIVER FALLS INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* McDevitt was 14-of-28 for 252 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
* Asher finished with 144 yards rushing and one touchdown on 37 attempts.
* Rush totaled eight catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns with Ben Wesolowski finishing with five receptions 148 yards.
* Jared Schultz had a team-high 11 tackles, including 10 unassisted, and one interception.
UP NEXT:
* UWL wraps up its regular season hosting UW-Platteville on Saturday, November 14. Kickoff time will be announced Monday, November 9.
