La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Quarterfinals with a 56-35 victory over Aurora University (Ill.) Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles, ranked fourth on D3football.com, improve to 11-1 on the season and will face top-ranked North Central College (Ill.) in the national quarterfinals on Saturday, December 2 at noon. The location of the game will be announced Sunday, November 26.
Aurora (Ill.), ranked 12th on D3football.com, finish its season at 11-1.
The Spartans took the opening kickoff went used 14 plays to go 80 yards in 4:46 with Tyler Adkins throwing a 11-yard touchdown pass to Trey Madsen to take a 7-0 lead with 10:14 left in the opening quarter. UWL's Keyser Helterbrand was intercepted by Aurora's (Ill.) Ernesto Ramirez at the Eagles' 45-yard line on the Eagles' first drive of the game. Jhequay Chretin gave the Spartans a 14-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter. Aurora (Ill.) went 45 yards in 12 plays and 4:41.
The teams traded punts on the next two possessions before UWL cut the lead to 14-7 with 11:48 left in the second quarter on Helterbrand's 55-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Bartol. The Eagles went 71 yards in six plays and 3:06.
Cole Jackson fumbled on the ensuing kickoff with UWL's Nicholas Jorndt recovering at Aurora's (Ill.) 27-yard line. Aaron Winters forced the fumble. Two plays later, UWL tied the game as Helterbrand connected with Bartol from 15-yards out to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:00 remaining in the first half. The Eagles forced another Spartans' punt and Helterbrand hit Jack Studer on the first play of the drive with an 82-yard touchdown pass to give UWL its first lead of the day at 21-14 with 9:22 left.
Aurora (Ill.) responded with a nine-play, 74-yard drive in 3:43 to tie the game at 21-21 on Adkins' 16-yard touchdown pass to Michael Boland with 5:34 remaining in the second quarter. UWL took a 28-21 lead on its next drive on Helterbrand's one-yard touchdown run with :20 left in the first half. The Eagles went 76 yards in 11 palys and 5:10. UWL maintained its 28-21 lead at halftime.
UWL needed four plays to take a 14-point lead in the second half as Helterbrand threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt LeMoine with 13:01 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles used 1:59 to go 66 yards in four plays to take a 35-21 lead. Aurora (Ill.) was forced to punt on its first possession of the third quarter, but Helterbrand was intercepted by Connor Nordmeyer at the Spartans' 29-yard line and returned it 14-yards to the Aurora (Ill.) 43-yard line with 10:49 left. Adkins hit Ty Pruett for 40-yards on the first play of the drive and then connected with Boland on a 17-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing play to cut the lead to 35-28 with 10:24 remaining in third quarter. Both teams punted on its next drive to keep the score 35-28 after three quarters.
Helterbrand and Bartol combined for their third touchdown pass of the game to extend the lead to 42-28 with 13:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, this one from 24-yards. The drive went 78 yards in seven plays and 2:40. Tanner Newlin intercepted Adkins on the following drive with UWL taking over at its own 45-yard line with 13:07 left. Seven plays later, Helterbrand scored on his second rushing touchdown of the game, a two-yard run with 9:02 remaining to make it 49-28. UWL went 55 yards in seven plays and 4:05. The Spartans cut the margin to 49-35 with 5:25 left on a Adkins' 13-yard touchdown pass to Connor Bright. Aurora (Ill.) used 3:31 to go 72 yards in 12 plays.
UWL recovered the ensuing onside kick, taking over at Aurora's (Ill.) 44-yard line. Lynch had 37 yards rushing on five carries on the ensuing drive, including a 20-yard touchdown run with 1:55 remaining to provide the final scoring margin of 56-35. The Eagles went 44 yards in six plays and 3:29. Adkins was sacked by Jack Kelly and Marquis Gagle on the final play of the game at UWL's 28-yard line.
UWL finished with 579 yards of offense on Saturday with 262 rushing and 317 passing. The Eagles had 26 first downs in the game, went eight-of-10 on third-down and four-of-four in the red-zone. UWL won the time of possession, 32:29 to 27:31.
Helterbrand accounted for seven touchdowns in the win, finishing 11-of-15 passing or 317 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. With his five passing touchdowns, Helterbrand set a single-season school record with 33 on the year. He breaks Evan Lewandowski's school record of 28 set in 2019. The five touchdown passes tied a career-high for Helterbrand and also tied the school record for passing touchdowns in a playoff game with Jakob Parks who finished with five against Albion College (Mich.) in 2021.
Lynch totaled 176 yards rushing on 23 carries and one touchdown. His 176 rushing yards are the most for UWL in an NCAA Division III playoff game. Studer (127 yards) and Bartol (123) each caught four passes with Studer recording one touchdown and Bartol three. Bartol's three touchdown catches are tied for first in school history in the NCAA III Championships, tying Cameron Sorenson's record versus Albion (Mich.) in 2021.
Aurora (Ill.) totaled 448 yards, including 58 rushing and 390 passing. The Spartans finished with 27 first downs in the game while going nine-of-15 on third-down and converted both of their fourth-down attempts. Aurora (Ill.) was five-of-five in the red-zone.
Adkins went 37-of-54 passing for 390 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Chretin had 50 yards rushing and one touchdown on 16 attempts while Boland finished with 137 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 11 catches. Maden had 72 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions.
Landon Oine led UWL with nine tackles on Saturday while Newlin, Winters and Knade each had six tackles. Nordmeyer led Aurora (Ill.) with 10 tackles with Ramirez and Christian Bower each recording nine.
UWL will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals since advancing to the semifinals in 1996. The Eagles will be making their sixth (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996) trip to the national quarterfinals in school history, winning the NCAA III title in 1992 and 1995.
The Eagles improved to 19-11 all-time in the NCAA Division III Championships with Saturday's victory, including 11-3 at home.
UWL Advances to NCAA III Quarterfinals with Win over Aurora
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231125_lbiy.xml
2023
Aurora
35
UW-La Crosse
56
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 12 Aurora (11-1) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| No. 4 UW-La Crosse (11-1) | 0 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 56 |
Nov 25, 2023