Platteville, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked sixth on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, rallied for a 21-17 victory at UW-Platteville Saturday afternoon at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. The Eagles improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Pioneers drop to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
With the win and UW-Whitewater's 21-14 victory at UW-River Falls, UWL is in sole possession of first-place in the WIAC.
UWL now leads the all-time series, 59-27, with UW-Platteville. The Eagles have won the last three meetings with the Pioneers.
The teams traded punts on the first two possessions of the game. UW-Platteville was forced to punt on its second drive with UWL taking over at its own eight-yard line. The Eagles used 16 plays and 9:26 to go 92 yards to score the first points of the game. UWL converted three third-downs on the drive, including a 25-yard touchdown pass from Keyser Helterbrand to Jack Studer to make it 6-0 with 14:56 left in the second quarter. Michael Stack's extra-point made it 7-0.
UW-Platteville and UWL both punted twice on the next four possessions. The Pioneers tied the game, 7-7, with :30 left in the first half as Michael Priami hit Brandt Stare with a 12-yard touchdown pass. Andrew Schweigert's extra-point tied the game. UW-Platteville converted a pair of third-down conversions in the game.
The game remained tied, 7-7, at halftime.
After forcing UWL to punt on the first possession of the third quarter, UW-Platteville went 46 yards in five plays and 1:46 to take a 14-7 lead with Priami connecting with Stare on a eight-yard touchdown pass with 11:47 remaining in the quarter. Stare set-up on the drive with a 25-yard punt return.
UWL quickly responded on the next drive. Helterbrand completed a 71-yard pass to Studer on third-and-15 at UWL's 23-yard line. One play later, Helterbrand threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Jack Janke with 10:59 left to force a 14-14 tie with 10:59 remaining.
The Pioneers took a 17-14 lead on Schweigert's 23-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the third quarter. UW-Platteville went 57 yards in nine plays and 3:11. UWL was forced to punt on its next possession with UW-Platteville taking over at the Eagles' 45-yard line, but the Pioneers turned the ball over on downs on Priami's incomplete pass broken up by Pat Wade. Helterbrand opened the ensuing drive with a 20-yard pass to Tyler Bowman. Weir later converted a fourth-and-six on a Zach Weir 22-yard pass to Studer. Weir then hit Studer on the next play for a 16-yard touchdown pass to give UWL a 21-17 lead with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles went 62 yards in six plays and 2:46.
UW-Platteville's next two drives ended in interceptions. Priami hit Ryan Doherty on a 30-yard pass on the first play after the touchdown, but Priami was intercepted by Henry Walsh at UWL's 43-yard line. The Eagles punted on the next drive with the Pioneers taking over at their own 19-yard line. UW-Platteville drove to the UWL 13-yard line. but a false start penalty and quarterback sack by the Eagles' Jack Kelly put the ball at UWL's 22-yard line. Nate Hietpas then intercepted Priami on the next play at UWL's 30-yard line.
After another UWL punt, UW-Platteville took over at its own 20-yard line with 3:59 remaining. Marquis Cagle sacked Priami on the first play and after a second down incompletion, Priami was stopped for a two-yard loss by Hietpas and Kelly to force a Pioneers' punt. The Eagles punted on its next possession and the Pioneers took over at their own 18-yard line with 1:24 left, but UW-Platteville could gain only 14 yards in seven plays with UWL taking over after a fumble out of bounds on fourth-down with :11 remaining.
UWL finished with 288 yards on Saturday, including 23 rushing and 265 passing. The Eagles had 18 first downs in the game and finished six-of-15 on third-down while converting their only fourth-down attempt. UWL won the time of possession, 33:45 to 26:15.
Helterbrand went 15-of-25 for 209 yards with one touchdown while also rushing for a touchdown. Weir finished five-of-eight or 56 yards with a touchdown. Gabe Lynch led UWL with 15 yards rushing on 14 carries. Studer caught seven passes for 158 yards (22.6 average) with one touchdown while Bowman had five receptions for 46 yards and Ryan Bartol four catches for 29 yards.
UW-Platteville totaled 330 yards with 36 rushing and 294 passing. The Pioneers finished with 20 first downs and were four-of-12 on third-down. The team missed both of its fourth-down attempts.
Priami went 33-of-50 for 294 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for UW-Platteville. Zackary Bothun had 11 yards rushing on 10 attempts. Doherty led the Pioneers with nine catches for 102 yards while Stare finished with eight receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Trevor Syse finished with seven catches for 44 yards.
Tanner Newlin led UWL's defense with nine tackles while Adam Quam and Wade each had seven. Cagle recorded a pair of quarterback sacks while Walsh and Hietpas had interceptions. Kelly also recorded a pair of tackles for loss to join Cagle. Sam Smith led UW-Platteville with 13 tackles with Colton Ingram finishing with 12 and Justin Blazek with 11. Blazek had 4.0 tackles for loss.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 21 hosting UW-Oshkosh at 1 p.m. at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. It will be Wall of Fame/Varsity Homecoming/Family Weekend/Maroon Out/Band Day.