La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team snapped an eight-game losing streak to UW-Oshkosh with a 31-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles improve to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Titans drop to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
It is UWL's first win over UW-Oshkosh since 2011 and its first home win over the Titans since 2009. The Eagles, now 4-0 at home this season, held the Titans to their lowest point total against UWL since the Eagles earned a 24-0 win in 2007.
UWL took the opening kickoff and went 68 yards in five plays and 2:35 to take a 7-0 lead with Joey Stutzman scoring on a one-yard run with 12:25 left in the first quarter. Evan Lewandowski opened the game with a 47-yard completion to Cole Spieker.
UW-Oshkosh was forced to punt on its first possession, but Cameron Sorenson blocked the punt with UW-Oshkosh recovering at its own 19-yard line. Five plays later, Lewandowski connected with Sorenson on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 9:28 remaining in the opening quarter. The Eagles went 19 yards in 2:04.
The Titans fumbled on their first drive of the second quarter with the Eagles' Joey Bolda forcing the fumble on a completion and Nathan Clark recovering at the Titans' 30-yard line. Lewandowski's 19-yard touchdown pass to Spieker with 10:32 left in the second quarter gave UWL a 21-0 lead. The scoring drive went 30 yards in five plays and 1:19.
UW-Oshkosh got on the board with 4:11 remaining in the first half as Jaydon Haag hit a 38-yard field goal to make it 21-3. The Titans went 16 yards in eight plays and 1:51 after the drive was set-up by Kyle Scharenbroch's interception as the Eagles' 37-yard line.
UWL responded on its next drive to take a 28-3 lead with :21 left in the first half. Keyser Helterbrand scored on a one-yard run, completing a 54-yard drive in nine plays and 3:57. The Eagles led, 28-3, at halftime.
The teams were scoreless in the third quarter. UWL's Ryan Beirne missed a 35-yard field goal with 6:54 left in the quarter while both teams threw an interception. UW-Oshkosh drove to UWL's 20-yard line with :14 left in the quarter, but were stopped on fourth-and-12.
Beirne connected on a 26-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter to give UWL a 31-3 lead. The Eagles went 70 yards in 11 plays and 5:31.
UWL finished with 475 yards of offense, including 123 rushing and 352 passing. The Eagles had 22 first downs while going 11-of-19 on third-down. UWL was five-of-eight in the red-zone while winning the time of possession, 37:42 to 22:18.
Lewandowski went 24-of-39 for 352 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Sorenson finished with nine catches for 121 yards while Spieker had six catches for 170 yards. Both finished with one touchdown. Stutzman led the Eagles with 55 yards rushing on 19 attempts.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 201 yards with 106 rushing and 95 passing. The Titans were held to 11 first downs and went three-of-15 on third-down.
Kobe Berghammer went 13-of-35 for 95 yards with Riley Kallas finishing with five catches for 60 yards. Chris Hess led the Titans with 51 yards rushing on five carries.
Clark had six tackles for UWL with two pass break-ups, one interception and one fumble recovery. Noah Schober, Zach Pierce, Joey Bolda and Peter Kissling each had five tackles. Nick Noethe led UW-Oshkosh with 10 tackles while Beyer had two interceptions.
UWL returns to action Saturday, November 2 at third-ranked UW-Whitewater at 1 p.m.