La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team dropped its third straight game with a 38-22 loss to UW-Steven Point Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles fall to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pointers improve to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
UW-Stevens Point earned its third straight win over UWL with Saturday's victory and picked up its first win in La Crosse since 2009.
UWL took the opening kickoff and drove to the UW-Stevens Point six-yard line, but Tarek Yaeggi's pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-one. The Eagles got the ball back on the Pointers' first offensive play as Peter Kissling recovered a fumble at UW-Stevens Point's 13-yard line. UWL was unable to convert as Joshua Fischer's 28-yard field goal went wide right with 10:29 left in the opening quarter.
The Pointers went 67 yards in 12 plays and 5:08 to take a 3-0 lead on Kyle Hendzel's 30-yard field goal with 5:21 left in the first quarter. The Eagles came back on their next possession with Yaeggi throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Joel Oxton with 2:58 left in the first. Fischer's extra-point was good for a 7-3 lead as UWL went 75 yards in eight plays and 2:29.
UWL took a 14-3 lead with 12:24 remaining in the second quarter as Yaeggi hit Oxton for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The drive went 55 yards in nine plays and 4:32.
UW-Stevens Point responded on its next drive to cut the lead 14-10 with 7:32 left in the second quarter. Kyle Larson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Logan Taylor as the Pointers went 75 yards in nine plays and 4:57. UWL led 14-10 at halftime.
The Pointers scored a pair of third quarter touchdowns to take a 24-14 lead. Larson's 27-yard touchdown pass to Steve Herra with 6:53 left in the period gave UW-Stevens Point a 17-14 lead. The Pointers went 62 yards in four plays and 1:30 with Larson going four-of-four on the drive for all 62 yards. After forcing UWL to turn the ball over on downs at UW-Stevens Point's 15-yard line, the Pointers took a 24-14 advantage as Larson connected on a 82-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Williams with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter. UW-Stevens Point went 85 yards in two plays and :56.
Larson threw his fourth touchdown of the game with 12:34 left, connecting with Paul Swartz on a two-yard pass to make it 31-14. The Pointers went 68 yards in eight plays and 3:20. After Yaeggi was intercepted by John Kontowicz, UW-Stevens Point took a 38-14 lead as Larson threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Williams. The drive went 48 yards in four plays and 1:49.
UWL came back on its next drive to cut the lead to 38-22, going 75 yards in six plays and 2:05 with Ben Schramski throwing a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Holcomb. Schramski's two-point conversion to Samuel Zwieg was good. The Eagles forced a Pointers' punt and drove to the UW-Stevens Point 41-yard line, but Schramski fourth-and-two pass was incomplete with 3:52 remaining.
UWL finished with 472 yards of offense, including 160 rushing and 181 passing. The Eagles totaled 24 first downs while going seven-of-18 on third-down. UWL won the time of possession, 30:37 to 29:23, while going two-of-six in the red-zone.
Schramski had 60 yards rushing on nine attempts while Troy Bailey finished with 44 yards on five carries. Yaeggi went 22-of-39 for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while Schramski finished six-of-16 for 54 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Oxton caught 13 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns while Ryan Kruser had eight catches for 56 yards. Oxton's 13 catches is tied for second in single-game school history. Troy Harcey (versus UW-Platteville in 1995); Nick Wagner (versus Minnesota-Duluth in 1999) and Scott Burnoski (versus UW-Oshkosh in 2004) each caught 13 passes. Jason Wagner finished with a school record 14 receptions versus UW-Stout in 2007.
UW-Stevens Point totaled 499 yards of offense, including 112 rushing and 387 passing. The Pointers finished with 21 first downs while going seven-of-13 on third-down and four-of-four in the red-zone.
Britton Vernon led the Pointers with 88 yards rushing on 20 attempts while Larson went 24-of-35 for 387 yards and five touchdowns. Herra caught seven passes for 103 yards and one touchdown while Williams totaled three receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Taylor finished with six catches for 70 yards and one touchdown while Jared Pankow had four catches for 93 yards.
Peter Krien led UWL with 10 tackles, including 2.0 for loss and 1.0 quarterback sack. Noah Risch and Steve Law each had eight tackles. Dakin Coons recorded 1.0 quarterback sack.
Juleyan Givens led UW-Stevens Point with nine tackles while Kevin Sanchez finished with eight. Leiv Singler had 2.0 tackles for loss.
UWL returns to action Saturday, November 5 at fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 2 p.m.