La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell 31-13 to third-ranked UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles drop to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Titans improve to 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the conference. With the win, UW-Oshkosh earns at least a share of its ninth league title in school history and first since 2012. UWL finishes 3-1 at home in 2015.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked third on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, took the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards in six plays and 2:34 as Brett Kasper threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Joe Sommers with 12:31 left in the first quarter. Greg Rand's extra-point was good for a 7-0 lead. UWL came back to cut the lead to 7-3 on its first possession of the game as the Eagles went 64 yards in 11 plays and 4:03 with Matt Van Druten hitting a 28-yard field goal with 8:23 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Titans took a 14-3 lead on the next drive of the contest with Dylan Hecker throwing a one-yard touchdown pass to Zach Kasuboski with 3:20 left in the first quarter. Rand's extra-point was good as UW-Oshkosh went 65 yards on 10 plays and 5:08.
The score remained 14-3 until UWL's Drew David connected on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Joel Oxton with 6:18 remaining in the second period to cut UW-Oshkosh's lead to 14-10. The Eagles went 80 yards in eight plays and 3:52. Austin Mancosky rushed for 47 yards on the drive.
UW-Oshkosh, now winners of five straight over UWL, took a 17-10 halftime lead on Rand's 29-yard field goal to end the first half. The Titans went 54 yards in 13 plays and 2:06.
On the opening drive of the second half, UWL cut the lead to 17-13 with Van Druten making a 27-yard field goal attempt with 7:28 left in the third quarter. UWL went 53 yards in 15 plays and 7:32. UW-Oshkosh came out on its first possession of the second half and took a 24-13 advantage with Devon Linzenmeyer scoring on a one-yard run with 5:05 left. The drive went 70 yards in eight plays and 2:19.
UWL appeared to cut its deficit late in the third quarter as David Wesolowski threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Jack Zwettler, but the Eagles were called for ineligible player downfield on the play. Three plays later, Van Druten's 23-yard field goal was blocked by UW-Oshkosh's Johnny Eagan. The Titans led 24-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Hecker's 12-yard touchdown run with 11:29 remaining in the game gave UW-Oshkosh a 31-13 lead. The Titans went 80 yards on 13 plays and 3:38. UWL drove to the UW-Oshkosh 18-yard line later in the fourth, but turned the ball over on downs and the Titans ran out the final 7:05.
UWL finished with 402 yards of offense, including a season-high 225 rushing and 177 passing. The Eagles had 24 first downs and were six-of-11 on third-down.
Tyler Jenkins had a career-high 147 yards rushing on 21 carries (7.0 average) while Mancosky finished with 68 yards on 11 attempts (6.2 average). David went 16-of-28 passing for 177 yards with one touchdown. Oxton caught seven passes for 83 yards and a touchdown while Samuel Zwieg had five catches for 44 yards. Zwettler finished with 50 yards on four catches.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 462 yards, including 182 rushing and 280 passing. The Titans had 28 first downs while going eight-of-12 on third-down. UW-Oshkosh won the time of possession, 30:30 to 29:30, and were five-of-five in red-zone chances.
Linzenmeyer rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries (7.1 average) and one touchdown while Hecker finished with 63 yards on 11 attempts (5.7) and one touchdown. Kasper finished 23-of-32 for 236 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked three times. Kasuboski totaled nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown while Craig Schommer finished with 58 yards on six catches. Sommers totaled 55 yards on three receptions and a touchdown.
Noah Risch led UWL's defense with 11 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and 1.0 quarterback sack. Michael Garvey totaled eight tackles. Peter Krien finished with 2.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 quarterback sacks. Eric Wittkowske averaged 30.5 yards on two punts with one inside the 20-yard line.
AJ Plewa led UW-Oshkosh with nine tackles, including seven unassisted. Kevin MacCudden had 1.0 tackle for loss and 1.0 quarterback sack. Turner Geisthardt averaged 49.5 yards on two punts for the Titans.
UWL returns to action Saturday, November 14 at 14th-ranked UW-Platteville. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Eagles' season-finale.
UWL Drops Home Finale to Third-Ranked UW-Oshkosh
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151107_8vyr.xml
2015
UW-Oshkosh
31
UW-La Crosse
13
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 UW-Oshkosh (8-1) | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| UW-La Crosse (3-6) | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
Nov 07, 2015