La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell 47-3 to seventh-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles drop to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks improve to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
UW-Whitewater, also ranked 12th on D3football.com Top-25 Poll, earned its largest winning margin over UW-L in school history. The Warhawks earned their 11th straight win over the Eagles. The all-time series is now tied, 31-31.
After UW-L went three-and-out on the first possession of the game, UW-Whitewater drove 70 yards in 12 plays and 3:55 with Eric Kindler hitting a 20-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. The Eagles then tied the game on their next possession. UW-L went 65 yards in 10 plays and 3:49 as Matt Van Druten converted a 30-yard field goal.
The teams traded punts on the next four possessions of the game before UW-Whitewater took a 10-3 lead as Matt Behrendt threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Huber with 9:07 left in the second quarter. The Warhawks went 44 yards on seven plays and 3:13. The drive was set-up after a 16-yard punt from Van Druten.
UW-L was forced to punt on its next drive and UW-Whitewater went 82 yards in 14 plays and 5:21 as Jordan Ratliffe scored on a one-yard run with 2:29 remaining in the first half. The touchdown as set-up on Behrendt's 24-yard pass to Huber.
The Warhawks led 17-3 at halftime.
UW-Whitewater took the second half kickoff and drove 93 yards in 13 plays and 5:15 as Ratliffe scored on an 11-yard run to make it 24-3.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Behrendt threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jake Kumerow for a 31-3 lead. UW-Whitewater went 79 yards in four plays and 2:39.
The Warhawks scored a safety to take a 33-3 lead with 6:08 left in the game after the snap went over Van Druten's head in the end zone on a punt attempt. On the ensuing kickoff, Justin Howard returned it 77-yards for a touchdown with 5:58 remaining. UW-Whitewater finished the scoring with 2:16 left as Dylan Morang recovered a UW-L fumble in the end zone after the ball hit an Eagle on a punt attempt.
UW-L finished with 137 yards of offense, including 61 rushing and 76 passing. The Eagles were held to seven first downs, including one in the second half. UW-L finished one-of-14 on third-down.
Andy Sires was 10-of-21 passing for 75 yards while Ben Hertrampf finished with 59 rushing yards on 11 carries. Jude Williams caught four passes for 35 yards.
UW-Whitewater totaled 560 yards, including 205 rushing and 355 passing. The Warhawks had 28 first downs and finished 11-of-18 on third-down. UW-Whitewater won the time of possession, 36:43 to 23:17.
Behrendt finished 25-of-36 for 355 yards with two touchdowns. Huber had eight receptions for 99 yards while Kumerow finished with five catches for 147 yards. Both players had one receiving touchdown. Nick Patterson totaled 93 yards rushing on 16 attempts while Ratliffe had 44 yards and two touchdowns and eight carries.
Max Nicholson led UW-L with 12 tackles, including seven unassisted. Jon Becker had 10 tackles while Shane Rockweiler finished with nine.
Cole Klotz led UW-Whitewater with nine tackles.
UW-L returns to action at ninth-ranked UW-Oshkosh Saturday, October 12. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Titan Stadium.
UW-La Crosse Falls to Seventh-Ranked UW-Whitewater
/seasons/2013/boxscores/20131005_tpx7.xml
2013
UW-Whitewater
47
UW-La Crosse
3
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 5 UW-Whitewater (4-0) | 3 | 14 | 7 | 23 | 47 |
| UW-La Crosse (0-4) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Oct 05, 2013