La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned a 35-28 win over UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles improve to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with the win on Varsity Homecoming. The Pioneers drop to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
UWL earned its first win over UW-Plattevlle in La Crosse since a 28-21 victory in 2006. The Eagles earned a 37-6 win in 2008 in a game played at Winona State University (Minn.) due to the construction of Roger Harring Stadium.
The Eagles took a 7-0 lead on the third third play from scrimmage Saturday as Ben Schramski connected with Jake Simuncak on a 70-yard touchdown pass with 14:33 left in the opening quarter. UWL forced a punt on UW-Platteville's first possession of the game and Cole Spieker blocked and returned the punt for a touchdown from seven-yards out to make it 14-0 with 13:35 remaining in the first quarter.
UW-Platteville cut the deficit to 14-7 with a 14-play, 72-yard drive taking 8:15 off the clock as Brett Geisz threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ke'Von Johnson with 5:23 left in the first quarter. UWL quickly responded on its next drive with Spieker catching a 32-yard touchdown pass from Schramski with 3:08 remaining in the quarter. The Eagles went 53 yards in five plays and 2:10.
The Pioneers cut the lead to 21-14 with 11:36 left in the second quarter as Geisz threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Donald Allender. UW-Platteville went 85 yards in 14 plays and 6:35 to make it a seven-point game. Schramski was intercepted by Tyler Reinhardt on the next play from scrimmage and three plays later, Geisz scored on an eight-yard run to tie the game with 10:05 remaining in the first half. The game remained tied, 21-21, at halftime.
Reinhardt recorded his second interception of the game for UW-Platteville on UWL's first drive of the second half. The Pioneers took their first lead at 28-21 with 11:28 left in third quarter after Tim Jansen's 42-yard touchdown pass from Geisz. UWL tied the game on its next drive, going 50 yards in eight plays and 3:50, as Schramski threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Spieker.
Samuel Herkert missed a 25-yard field goal with 8:49 left in the fourth quarter for UW-Platteville. The Eagles took a 35-28 advantage in the fourth quarter after a Simuncak 26-yard punt return. UWL went 23 yards in four plays and 1:53 with Schramski throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Trenten Smith.
UW-Platteville took over at UWL's 40-yard line as the ensuing kickoff was returned 48 yards by Johnson, but UWL recorded a pair of sacks on the drive setting up a fourth-and-21 for the Pioneers. Geisz was intercepted by Noah Schober at the Eagles' 20-yard line and UWL ran out the final 1:35 on the clock.
UWL, receiving votes on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, finished with 317 yards of offense, including 105 rushing and 212 passing. The Eagles had 13 first downs in the game. Schramski finished 12-of-24 for 212 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions while Spieker caught five passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Simuncak had three catches for 92 yards and one touchdown. He also had five kickoff returns for 147 yards. Jalen Clark led UWL with 56 yards rushing on 14 attempts.
UW-Platteville totaled 422 yards, including 104 rushing and 318 passing. The Pioneers had 24 first downs while going 10-of-17 on third-down and winning the time of possession, 39:25 to 20:35. Geisz went 28-of-34 for 318 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Johnson caught 12 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown while Jansen totaled 10 receptions for 148 yards and one touchdown. Geisz also led the Pioneers with 51 yards rushing on 21 carries with one touchdown.
Schober and Elijah McGeehan led UWL with 10 tackles each while Zillmer, Gerszik and Alexander Villarreal each had eight. Zillmer recorded 3.0 quarterback sacks as the Eagles finished with 6.0 overall. Travis Hofslien led UW-Platteville with seven tackles.
UWL returns to action Saturday, November 3 hosting UW-River Falls at 1 p.m. on Veterans' Day/Senior Day.