La Crosse, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned its eighth straight win over UW-Eau Claire with a 41-21 victory Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles, ranked fourth on this week's D3football.com Poll, improve to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollege Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Blugolds drop to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
UW-Eau Claire last earned a win (20-14) in the series in 2016 in Eau Claire. The Blugolds haven't won in La Crosse since 2013 (24-21).
UWL needed six plays to take 7-0 on Saturday as Gabe Lynch scored on a 38-yard run with 12:25 left in the first quarter. The Eagles went 79 yards in 2:35 with Michael Stack converting the extra-point.
After UW-Eau Claire was forced to punt on its first possession, UWL took a 14-0 lead on a 40-yard touchdown run from Lynch with 8:35 remaining in the quarter, going 80 yards in three plays and 1:20. Kyle Haas and Jack Janke connected on a 31-yard pass on the drive. The Blugolds muffed the ensuing kickoff and the Eagles took advantage with Haas throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Marko Rajkovic with 6:58 left for a 21-0 lead. UWL used 1:36 and four plays to go 23 yards. Grant Achterkirch recovered the fumble on the kickoff.
UWL took a 24-0 lead with 6:36 remaining in the second quarter on Stack's 45-yard field goal. The Eagles went 67 yards in 13 plays and 6:58. UW-Eau Claire got on the scoreboard with Ayden Helder throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Levi Pooley with 2:32 left in the second quarter to make it 24-7. Satchel Johnson converted the extra point as the Blugolds went 77 yards in nine plays and 3:58.
Stack's 45-yard field goal with :07 remaining in the first half gave UWL a 27-7 halftime lead. The drive went 48 yards in 10 plays and 2:25.
The Blugolds punted on their first drive of the third quarter and the Eagles went 68 yards in five plays and 2:25 to take a 34-7 advantage after Braedon Ott scored on a 45-yard touchdown run with 11:11 left in the third quarter. UWL's touchdown came on fourth-and-one.
Helder scored on an eight-yard run with 6:25 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 34-14. UW-Eau Claire went 75 yards in eight plays and 4:46. Haas threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Janke with 13:31 left in the game to give UWL a 41-14 lead. UWL went 90 yards in eight plays and 3:33. UW-Eau Claire's Helder finished the scoring with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Yaach Choul with 5:24 remaining. The Blugolds used 3:41 and nine plays to go 78 yards.
UWL totaled 640 yards of offense, including 370 rushing and 270 passing. The Eagles had 30 first downs in the game and won the time of possession, 37:06 to 22:54. UWL finished six-of-14 on third-down and two-of-three on fourth-down. The 370 rushing yards and 640 total yards of offense are the most for UWL since the Eagles totaled 386 rushing and 632 total at UW-Eau Claire on October 15, 2022.
Lynch finished with 165 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 16 carries (10.3 average) while Ott totaled 127 yards and one touchdown on 11 attempts (11.2). Ott also had 76 receiving yards on six catches. Haas went 22-of-28 for 251 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Ott led the team with 76 yards receiving and tied for the team lead with six catches with Tyler Bowman (61 yards). Janke had four catches for 71 yards.
UW-Eau Claire finished with 300 yards with 106 rushing and 194 passing. The Blugolds totaled 16 first downs and were six-of-12 on third-down.
Helder finished 16-of-28 for 194 yards with two touchdowns. He also had a team-high 35 yards rushing with one touchdown. Chuoi caught four passes for 71 yards and one touchdown with Paxton Rothmeier finishing with four receptions for 49 yards.
Five players recorded three tackles for UWL, including Christian Powell, Tyler Burkley, Bryson Mazur, Colin O'Neil and Bodie Schanhofer.
Keagan Christy led UW-Eau Claire with nine tackles.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 18 at sixth-ranked UW-Platteville at 1 p.m.