La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team dropped its first game of the season Saturday with a 32-22 loss to second-ranked UW-Whitewater in front of a record crowd of 5,373 at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles drop to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the WIAC. UW-Whitewater is ranked second on this week's D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll. UWL is receiving votes in the AFCA Poll.
The crowd of 5,373 breaks the Roger Harring Stadium record of 4,278 set versus the University of Dubuque (Iowa) September 7, 2013. The complex opened in 2009. It is the first crowd over 5,000 since UWL hosted Winona State University (Minn.) September 9, 2000.
UWL took a 6-0 lead on the first drive of the game Saturday as the Eagles went 75 yards in 12 plays and 3:45 with Tarek Yaeggi throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Nick Holcomb. Yaeggi went four-of-seven passing on the drive for 46 yards while also rushing for 21 yards on three carries. Joshua Fischer's extra-point was missed to give the Eagles a 6-0 lead with 3:39 remaining.
UW-Whitewater, winners of six of the last nine NCAA Division III titles, responded on its first drive of the game to take a 7-6 lead. Drew Patterson scored on a 15-yard run with 7:39 left and Will Meyer's extra-point gave the Warhawks the 7-6 lead. UW-Whitewater went 71 yards in 10 plays and 3:36.
The Eagles drove to the Warhawks' eight-yard line on the ensuing drive before Yaeggi was intercepted by Bailey Breunig in the UW-Whitewater end-zone with 2:11 remaining in the first quarter. UWL went 67 yards on 12 plays in the drive. UW-Whitewater was forced to punt on its next possession and UWL drove to the UW-Whitewater 38-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs. The Warhawks went 48 yards in six plays, but Meyer's 31-yard field goal went wide right to keep it 7-6.
Fischer's 44-yard field goal on UWL's next possession was blocked by Matt Seitz after the Eagles went 53 yards in eight plays. UW-Whitewater punted on its next drive, but Paul Foster returned a Yaeggi interception 29-yards for a touchdown on UWL's next possession to give the Warhawks a 14-6 lead with 6:45 left in the first half. UW-Whitewater forced another UWL turnover on the next drive as Cal Durni sacked Yaeggi and forced a fumble with Mickey Morgan recovering at UWL's 34-yard line. Four plays later, Jarrod Ware scored on a 20-yard run with 2:05 left for a 21-6 lead.
UWL cut its halftime deficit to 21-9 as Fischer connected on a 20-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. The Eagles went 67 yards in seven plays and 1:58.
After forcing a UW-Whitewater punt on the first drive of the second half, UWL cut the lead to 21-16 as Yaeggi connected with Holcomb on a one-yard touchdown pass with 7:02 left in the third quarter. The drive went 76 yards in 10 plays and 4:54. The Eagles regained the lead on their next possession after forcing a second straight Warhawks' punt. Yaeggi scored on a one-yard run with 1:55 remaining in the quarter as UWL went 42 yards in seven plays and 2:48. Yaeggi accounted for 36 yards (33 passing; three rushing) on the drive. His two-point pass attempt failed and UWL led 22-21 after three quarters.
UW-Whitewater regained the lead early in the fourth quarter as Patterson scored on a 13-yard run with 14:37 left in the contest. Patterson rushed for 61 yards on five attempts on the drive. Chris Nelson's two-point pass attempt to Tony Gumina was good to give the Warhawks a 29-22 lead.
A 14-play, 75-yard drive for UWL ended at UW-Whitewater's 10-yard line after Seitz recovered a Troy Bailey fumble in the end zone. The Warhawks capitalized on the turnover as Meyer hit a 26-yard field goal with 5:14 left and a 32-22 lead. UW-Whitewater went 71 yards in eight plays and 3:39. UWL drove to the UW-Whitewater 46-yard line on its final possession of the game, but Yaeggi's fourth-down pass was incomplete with 2:43 left.
UWL finished with 506 yards of offense Saturday, including 105 rushing and 401 passing. The Eagles ran 88 offensive plays compared to the Warhawks' 53 and won the time of possession, 35:14 to 24:46. UWL was 13-of-22 on third-down and two-of-four on fourth down. The Eagles did not punt in the game. Tarek Yaeggi set a school record with 33 completions Saturday afternoon.
Yaeggi went 33-of-49 for 401 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The 33 completions set a single-game school record, breaking the mark of 32 completions by Nick Anker versus UW-Eau Claire (November 6, 2010) and Andy Sires against Dubuque, Iowa (September 7, 2013). Yaeggi's 49 attempts is tied for sixth-most in single-game school history while his 401 passing yards ranks fourth in school history. Yaeggi also rushed for a team-high 57 yards on 20 attempts and one touchdown. His 458 yards of total offense ranks as the third-most in single-game history.
Joel Oxton caught 11 passes for a career-high 154 yards while Dante Marskifinished with eight catches for a career-high 141 yards. Ryan Kruser had nine receptions for 62 yards. Oxton's 11 catches are tied for 11th-most in single-game school history.
UW-Whitewater totaled 339 yards in Saturday's win, including 173 rushing and 166 passing. The Warhawks were four-of-11 on third-down and forced four Eagles' turnovers. Cole Wilber went 15-of-22 passing for 166 yards while Patterson totaled 155 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 23 carries (6.7 average). Marcus Hudson (40 yards), Brent Campbell (21) and Mitchell Dess (15) each had three catches.
Matt Willquette led UWL with eight tackles while Noah Risch finished with seven. Peter Krien and Ryan Weber totaled six tackles each.
Vince Mason led UW-Whitewater with nine tackles while Seitz, Foster and Bennett Young each had six.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 22 at UW-Eau Claire at 11:30 a.m.
UW-La Crosse Falls to Second-Ranked UW-Whitewater
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161015_e11f.xml
2016
UW-Whitewater
32
UW-La Crosse
22
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 UW-Whitewater (6-0) | 7 | 14 | 0 | 11 | 32 |
| UW-La Crosse (5-1) | 6 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 22 |
Oct 15, 2016