La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team used a big first half to earn a 63-27 win over UW-Stevens Point Saturday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers fall to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
UWL's 63 points against UW-Stevens Point are the most since a 62-7 win in 1979.
The Eagles, receiving votes on this week's D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll, led 14-0 after the first quarter after Ben Schramski hit Cole Spieker on a four-yard touchdown pass with 7:21 remaining in the quarter and Schramski scoring on a 16-yard run with 4:28 left. UWL made it 21-0 with 13:38 left in the second quarter on Austin Mancosky's three-yard run. The touchdown was set-up by Schramski's 47-yard pass to Devonte Amos to the three-yard line. After UW-Stevens Point's fifth straight punt to start the game, UWL took a 28-0 lead as Jalen Clark scored on a two-yard run with 10:24 remaining in the first half.
Elijah McGeehan blocked a Pointers' punt on the next drive of the game with Spieker returning it 13-yards for a touchdown and 35-0 lead with 9:28 left. UW-Stevens Point turned the ball over on downs with 7:20 left in the first half and Schramski's six-yard touchdown pass to Trenten Smith with 3:31 remaining made it 42-0.
UW-Stevens Point got on the board on the ensuing kickoff as Christian Almonte returned it 97-yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was missed after a high snap on the extra-point attempt to make it 42-6 with 3:15 left. Schramski's 40-yard touchdown pass to Spieker with :51 left in the half gave UWL a 49-6 halftime advantage.
Schramski threw his fourth touchdown of the game on a 32-yard pass to Amos with 8:19 left in the third quarter and 56-6 lead. The Pointers got a pair of touchdowns to make it 56-20 with Max Herro scoring on a one-yard run with 9:49 remaining in the fourth quarter and James Fay returning an Evan Lewandowski interception 35-yards for a touchdown with 8:14 left.
Brody Gatz scored on a five-yard run with 5:37 left for UWL to make it 63-20 before UW-Stevens Point finished the scoring on Herro's five-yard touchdown pass to Jahi Stigall with 2:20 remaining.
UWL finished with 554 yards of offense, including 214 rushing and 340 passing. The Eagles had 25 first downs while going six-of-14 on third-down. UWL was six-of-seven in the red-zone. Schramski went 18-of-27 for 283 yards with a career-high four touchdowns while also rushing for 37 yards on four carries and one touchdown. Lewandowski finished nine-of-16 for 57 yards and one interception. Clark (10 carries) and Mancosky (eight) led UWL with 48 yards rushing each while Joey Stutzman had 40 yards on 11 attempts. Spieker had six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Fifteen different players caught a pass for the Eagles.
UW-Stevens Point totaled 232 yards, including 41 rushing and 191 passing. The Pointers were two-of-15 on third-down. Herro finished 17-of-38 for 191 yards and one touchdown while ShamaJ Williams had 27 yards rushing on eight carries. Almonte finished with 80 yards on six catches while Steve Herra had 69 yards on four receptions.
UWL had 5.0 quarterback sacks in the game. Rusty Murphy and Joey Bolda each had seven tackles with Murphy recording 2.0 tackles for loss. Nathan Clark had six tackles, including 1.0 sack.
Juleyan Givens led UW-Stevens Point with 15 tackles while Ryan Strick recorded 11.0, including 1.0 for loss.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 20 at 13th-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 1:30 p.m.
UWL's Big First Half Leads to Home Win over UW-Stevens Point
/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181013_uh5q.xml
2018
UW-Stevens Point
27
UW-La Crosse
63
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-Stevens Point (2-4) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 27 |
| UW-La Crosse (4-2) | 14 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 63 |
Oct 13, 2018