The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team picked up its first loss of the season, falling 21-14 at UW-Whitewater on Friday night. The Eagles drop to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while the Warhawks improve to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference. It is UW-Whitewater's 15th consecutive win over UWL. The Eagles last earned a win in the series, 35-10, in 2004.
UWL took the opening kickoff and drove to the UW-Whitewater 23-yard line, but quarterback Tarek Yaeggi was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1. After the teams traded punts, the Warhawks took a 7-0 lead with 5:26 left in the first quarter on Drew Patterson's 4-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was set up after Cole Wilber's 45-yard pass to Marcus Hudson down to the UWL 4-yard line. The Warhawks went 72 yards in five plays and 2:09. It marked the first time UWL had trailed this season.
The Eagles responded on their next possesion, driving to the Warhawks' 22-yard line, but Yaeggi's pass was incomplete on fourth-and-4. UW-Whitewater led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.
UWL tied the game in the second quarter after a 12-play, 56-yard drive in 4:23. Drew David threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Cal Mazur with 2:51 remaining to cut the lead to 7-6. Bryce Wesling's extra-point tied the game. David was three-for-five on the drive for 19 yards after coming for Yaeggi, who was injured on the drive. David also rushed for a pair of first downs on the drive. The game was tied, 7-7, at halftime.
UW-Whitewater took a 14-7 lead with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter as Patterson scored on a one-yard run. The touchdown was set up on Jarrod Ware's 53-yard run. Patterson scored his third rushing touchdown of the game, this time from 93-yards out, with 9:46 left in the fourth quarter for a 21-7 lead.
UWL cut the deficit to 21-14 with 2:11 left in the game as David threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Nick Holcomb. The Eagles went 39 yards in 10 plays and 3:20. On the ensuing onside kick, UW-Whitewater's Canton Larson recovered at UWL's 47-yard line. After a pair of timeouts, UWL got the ball back at its own 15-yard line with 1:00 remaining. The Eagles drove to their own 39-yard line, but four straight incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs.
UWL finished with a season-low 273 yards of offense Friday on 94 plays. The Eagles totaled a season-low 51 yards rushing while finishing with a season-low 222 yards passing. UWL had 20 first downs in the game, going seven-of-23 on third-down while winning the time of possession, 34:01 to 25:59.
Yaeggi went 11-of-16 for 88 yards while David finished 15-of-38 for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Holcomb caught 11 passes for 95 yards and one touchdown. The 11 receptions is a career-high. He now has 10 touchdown catches for the year, tied for third in single-season school history with Joel Oxton (2016). Paul Kling (1994) and Scott Burnoski (2004) caught a school record 14 catches. Jalen Clark led UWL with 33 yards rushing on 13 attempts Friday night.
UW-Whitewater totaled 336 yards of offense on 62 plays while finishing with 11 first downs. The Warhawks went three-of-15 on third-down. UW-Whitewater had 275 yards rushing and 61 yards passing.
Patterson had 222 yards rushing on 32 carries and three touchdowns. Wilber went seven-of-20 passing for 61 yards while Michael Hudson caught two passes for 51 yards.
Each team punted 12 times in the game.
Noah Risch led UWL with 13 tackles whle Michael Garvey finished with seven. Ryan Weber and Jacob Krueger each totaled six. Jacob Erbs had a team-high 10 tackles for UW-Whitewater with 2.0 for loss while Harry Henschler had nine tackles, including 3.0 for loss.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 21 hosting third-ranked UW-Oshkosh at 2 p.m. on Varsity Homecoming/Wall of Fame Day. The 1992 NCAA Division III champion squad will also be honored.
UW-Whitewater hands UW-La Crosse first loss
/seasons/2017/boxscores/20171013_iefx.xml
2017
UW-La Crosse
14
UW-Whitewater
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 24 UW-La Crosse (5-1) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 23 UW-Whitewater (3-3) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Oct 13, 2017