Stevens Point, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with a 35-13 victory at UW-Stevens Point Saturday night at Community Stadium at Goerke Park. The Eagles improve to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the WIAC while the Pointers drop to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference. Both teams are receiving votes on this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll. UWL is also receiving votes on the D3football.com Top-25 Poll.
UWL snapped a three-game losing streak to UW-Stevens Point with Saturday's victory and it is the Eagles' first win in Stevens Point since 2012.
UWL took a 7-0 lead with 4:15 left in the first quarter after Trenten Smith scored on a two-yard run. The Eagles went 18 yards in six plays and 2:09 after Ryan Weber forced and recovered a Pointers' fumble at the UW-Stevens Point 18-yard line. After forcing a UW-Stevens Point punt, UWL went 60 yards in five plays and 1:59 as Tarek Yaeggi threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Nick Holcomb for a 13-0 lead with :04 remaining in the first quarter. The extra-point was missed.
The Pointers were forced to punt on their next possession and the Eagles took a 21-0 advantage with 11:26 left in the second quarter after Yaeggi hit Cole Spieker for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Bryce Wesling's two-point attempt to Drew David was good. UWL took a 28-0 halftime lead with :38 remaining in the second quarter with Yaeggi and Holcomb connected for the second time in the game for a touchdown, this one from 22-yards out.
After UW-Stevens Point punted on the first drive of the second half, UWL went 72 yards in 14 plays and 4:14 as Troy Bailey scored on a one-yard run for a 35-0 lead. The Pointers got on the board when Blake Lehman returned Yaeggi's interception 46-yards for a touchdown with 4:59 left in the third quarter. The extra point was missed. UW-Stevens Point scored its second defensive touchdown of the game with 7:52 remaining in the game with Juleyan Givens scoring on a 68-yard return after a Yaeggi fumble.
UWL totaled 417 yards of offense, including 185 rushing and 232 passing. Yaeggi was 20-of-36 for 199 yards with three touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for a team-high 74 yards on 10 attempts. Holcomb had five catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns while Ryan Kruser finished with five receptions for 27 yards. Spieker had four catches for 59 yards and one touchdown.
Smith finished with 48 yards rushing on 23 attempts and one touchdown.
UWL had 28 first downs in the game while going seven-of-17 on third-down and winning the time of possession, 35:24 to 24:36. The Eagles were three-of-three on fourth-down.
UW-Stevens Point finished with 175 yards, including 88 rushing and 87 passing. The Pointers entered the game averaging 36.0 points and conference leading 532.7 yards of offense per game, including 193.3 rushing and league-leading 339.3 passing. UW-Stevens Point totaled 10 first downs Saturday while going two-of-12 on third-down. The team recorded 11 penalties for 112 yards.
The Pointers went five-of-21 passing for 87 yards as Matt Urmanski finished one-of-11 for three yards and Cooper Kerner four-of-eight for 84 yards. Steve Herra caught two passes for 45 yards while Zach Bosek finished with 63 yards rushing on 12 attempts.
UWL registered 6.0 quarterback sacks Saturday with Brandon McKandes recording 3.0. McKandes and Elijah McGeehan led the Eagles with five tackles each. McGeehan had 2.0 tackles for loss. Luke Winnen and Steve Law each had four tackles.
Tanner Beaman led UW-Stevens Point with nine tackles while Givens finished with seven. Both players had 2.0 tackles for loss.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 7 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 11:30 a.m. on Family Weekend and the 49th Annual Shrine Game.
UWL Opens WIAC Play with Victory at UW-Stevens Point
/seasons/2017/boxscores/20170930_fal0.xml
2017
UW-La Crosse
35
UW-Stevens Point
13
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 24 UW-La Crosse (4-0) | 13 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| UW-Stevens Point (3-1) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
Sep 30, 2017