Box Score

La Crosse, Wisc. (uwrfsports.com) – The UW-River Falls football team traveled to La Crosse and could not comeback from the 28-0 halftime deficit and fell to the Eagles 35-14 in their first WIAC game of the year.

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 14, UW-La Crosse 35
Location: Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Record: UWRF: 1-3 (0-1 WIAC) UW-La Crosse 4-0 (1-0 WIAC)
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• To start the game, UW-La Crosse punted and River Falls took over but quickly gave the ball back on the second play from scrimmage giving the Eagles good starting position in their second drive of the game. The Eagles were able to convert their first touchdown when Tarek Yaeggi completed his pass to Samuel Zwieg for 21 yards to make the score 6-0. The Falcons then blocked the extra point.
• After the score, senior safety Robbie Flom exploded with a huge return giving the Falcons great field position at the La Crosse 25.
• The Falcons offense then stalled and the Falcons attempted a field goal by Francisco Perez which was blocked by Steve Law to keep the score 6-0.
• After a few punts by each team and a Falcon turnover on downs, senior Albert Itula intercepted a Yaeggi pass to give the Falcons the ball at the La Crosse 24. Two plays later, Sawyer Moon was intercepted by Peter Krien to take the ball right back at the La Crosse 20.
• The Eagles then drove the ball 80 yards in a long six minutes and 19 seconds to take a two possession lead with 8:31 to go in the second quarter. On the extra point, a fake field goal was performed and was successfully converted which gave the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
• After the La Crosse score, the Eagles tried an onside kick but the kick was illegally touched and gave the Falcons another chance inside Eagle territory at the 45 yard line.
• After a three and out by UWRF, the Eagles went 83 yards in just 2:31 and took a 21-0 lead over the Falcons on a Tyler Jenkins one yard touchdown run.
• After a Moon interception, La Crosse made good use of the end of the clock and scored on a Yaeggi pass to Ryan Kruser for 14 yards to extend the lead to 28-0 at the half.
• On the opening drive of the second half, the Falcons got a couple huge plays. First coming from Rance Ashley who drove his way for 31 yards. Then another 30 yard play when Tyler Halverson caught Moon's first completion to the Eagle six yard line. After a false start, Ashley caught a Moon pass to score the Falcons first score of the day. After Perez's first collegiate field goal, the score was 28-7.
• The Eagles took the ball after the UWRF touchdown, Jenkins took the ball on second down and took off for 66 yards to the Falcon six yard line. The Eagles would punch the ball in for another touchdown with Austin Mancosky getting the final score for the Eagles.
• After a turnover on downs, the Eagles drove the ball down to the Falcon 17 yard line, and stalled after senior Kyle Hunter recorded his fifth sack of the season. The field goal attempt was blocked and recovered by linebacker Matt Ekman.
• The Falcons drove down to the La Crosse 24 yard line before turning the ball over on downs once again. La Crosse then fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Jay Robinson.
• The Falcons took the turnover and turned it into points with an eight yard rush by Moon cutting the score to 35-14 after the Perez extra point.
• La Crosse took the ball into the Falcon territory again a couple of drives later, but the Falcons blocked their third field goal of the day, keeping the score 35-14.

IN-DEPTH LOOK

• For the first time in 2016, the Falcons were held under 400 yards of offense with a total of 266 yards totaling 4.16 yards per play.
• The Falcons lost the turnover battle in the game 3-2 and were penalized 11 times for 86 yards while UW-La Crosse was penalized 10 times for 100 yards.
• Ashley had another explosive performance running the ball. He averaged 10.8 yards per carry with 65 yards on six carries. Michael Diggins had 39 yards on 12 carries. Moon finished with six carries for 26 yards and a score.
• Freshman Alex Hohenstein led the Falcons in receiving in the game in his first serious action of the season. He finished with three catches for 42 yards including a 23 yard snag in the second half. Ashley also caught one pass for 11 yards and a touchdown.
• Passing the ball, Moon finished with one touchdown with 101 yards and wasn't sacked.
• On the defensive end, safety Tyler Ledbeter was the leader in tackles with 10. Albert Itula and Robbie Flom each added nine tackles.
• Hunter continued his hot start to the season. He recorded two more sacks in the game, moving his 2016 total to six sacks. That is currently the leader in the WIAC. Hunter was also credited for a blocked kick in the game. Ekman registered his second sack of the season.

 
THE OPPOSITION

• UW-La Croose was 7-14 on the day on third down, they also held UWRF to just one third down conversion in 12 attempts.
• Quarterback Yaeggi for UW-La Crosse had a solid day in the pocket finishing with 302 yards passing on 22-34 with two touchdowns and one interception. Yaeggi also carried the ball 14 times for a total of 39 yards and another score.
• Jenkins finished as the leader in rushing. He carried the ball 19 times for a total of 139 yards and a score.

LOOKING AHEAD
UW-River Falls (1-3, 0-1 WIAC) will return home to face UW-Eau Claire (1-3, 0-1 WIAC) in a rematch of last year's defensive battle that finished 10-7 in favor of the Falcons. The game is set to begin at 12:05 p.m. at David Smith Stadium at Ramer Field. UW-Eau Claire is coming off a close loss against undefeated UW-Stevens Point by a score of 28-19.