La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked 18th on this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, earned a 59-14 victory over the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
The Eagles improve to 8-3 on the season and advance to play at Saint John's University (Minn.) in the second round on Saturday, November 30 at noon. Northwestern (Minn.) finishes its season at 7-4.
The 59 points are the second-most in NCAA Division III Championship history for UWL. The Eagles scored 62 points in a victory (62-7) over the University of Minnesota Morris in the first round last season.
With the win, UWL improves to 12-4 all-time at home in the NCAA Division III Championships. The Eagles are making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Division III Championships in school history and fourth straight. The four consecutive national championship berths is the first time UWL has accomplished the feat since six straight trips from 1988-93. The Eagles are now 20-12 all-time in NCAA III playoff history, winning two (1992, 1995) national titles. UWL played in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals for the sixth time (1991-93, 1995-96, 2023) in school history last season.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams on Saturday, UWL took the opening kickoff and 7-0 lead as Kyle Haas threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jack Janke with 13:27 left in the first quarter. The Eagles went 41 yards in five plays and 1:26.
Northwestern (Minn.) was forced to punt on its first possession with Janke returning it 13 yards to the Northwestern (Minn.) 13-yard line. Four plays later, Haas and Janke connected for the second time for a 37-yard touchdown pass with 9:46 remaining to make it 14-0. UWL forced another Northwestern (Minn.) punt, the Eagles went 47 yards in nine plays and 4:25 for a 17-0 lead as Maddox Pratt hit a 30-yard field goal with 2:51 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles of Northwestern (Minn.) drove to UWL's 21-yard line early in the second quarter, but quarterback Caden Cantrell was stopped by Ross Gengler on fourth-and-one. Two plays later, Haas hit Wyatt LeMoine with a 74-yard touchdown pass to extend UWL's lead to 24-0 with 11:20 remaining in the first half. Northwestern (Minn.) got on the board with 6:34 left in the second quarter as the Eagles used nine plays and 4:42 to go 65 yards as Sivert Klefsass scored on a 17-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 24-7.
UWL responded on its ensuing drive to make it 31-7 after Gabe Lynch scored on a there-yard run with 4:49 remaining. The Eagles went 53 yards in four plays and 1:39. Gengler and Bryson Mazur combined on a quarterback sack on third-and-12 on Northwestern's (Minn.) next possession to force a punt. UWL scored four plays later with Najeh Mitchell scoring on a 23-yard run with 1:53 left in the half.
Cantrell was sacked on third-and-nine on the next drive, and after Janke returned the punt 18 yards, Haas and Keaton Arendt combined for a 22-yard touchdown pass for a 45-7 lead with 1:12 remaining. UWL led, 45-7, at halftime.
Northwestern (Minn.) was forced to punt on the opening possession of the third quarter and UWL needed eight plays and 4:07 to cover 90 yards and take a 52-7 lead after Braedon Ott scored on a seven-yard run with 7:11 left. The Eagles extended the lead to 59-7 with 10:17 remaining in the fourth quarter after Zach Weir's 13-yard touchdown pass to Jack Butcher. UWL went 79 yards in nine plays and 4:31. Cantrell threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Trey Ulmer for Northwestern (Minn.) with 5:47 remaining in the game. The Eagles went 75 yards in 10 plays and 4:30.
UWL finished with 602 yards of offense, including 282 rushing and 320 passing. The Eagles had 25 first downs while going two-of-seven on third-down and three-of-three on fourth-down. The 602 yards of offense are the most for UWL in a playoff game, surpassing the previous record of 588 set versus Albion College (Mich.) on November 20, 2021 in the first round.
Haas went 10-of-14 or 257 yards with four touchdowns while Weir finished six-of-seven for 39 yards and one touchdown. LeMoine had three catches for a team-high 104 yards with one touchdown while Janke finished with four receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Eight different players caught a pass. Charley Thompson led UWL with 95 rushing yards on 13 carries while Lynch totaled 87 yards and one touchdown on 13 attempts
Gengler led the Eagles' defense with eight tackles, recording 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 quarterback sacks. Grant Achterkirch and Sam Baumgard each had seven tackles. UWL finished with 8.0 quarterback sacks and 12.0 tackles for loss.
Northwestern (Minn.) totaled 219 yards with 50 rushing and 169 passing. The Eagles had 19 first downs and went six-of-15 on third-down and one-of-two on fourth-down. Northwestern (Minn.) won the time of possession, 32:17 to 27:43. Cantrell finished 17-of-29 for 169 yards and one touchdown while Beau Burk had seven receptions for 78 yards. Klefsass had a team-high 63 yards rushing and one touchdown on 13 carries.
Jayden Goodwin led the defense with seven tackles.