River Falls, Wisc. (uwrfsports.com) – In the last game of the 2016 season, on Senior Day, the UW-River Falls football team got outstanding performances out of their senior class in route to a 34-16 victory over UW-Stevens Point, pushing them to a 4^th place finish in the WIAC.   

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 34 UW-Whitewater: 16
Location: Ramer Field at David Smith Stadium, River Falls, Wisconsin
Record: UWRF: 4-6 (3-4 WIAC) UW-Stevens Point 6-4 (3-4 WIAC)
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• UW-River Falls began the game on offense, but ended up going three-and-out to give UW-Stevens Point their first drive inside Falcon territory after the punt at the UWRF 44 yard line.
• The Pointers converted a third and 10, but stalled out at the UWRF 31 yard line after a Matt Ekman sack. The Pointers kicked, and converted, a 48 yard field goal by Kyle Hendzel to take the 3-0 lead at 10:56 in the first quarter.
• UW-Stevens Point made good use of the slow start by UWRF. The Pointers used a 22 yard pass to Jared Pankow to set themselves up in the red zone. UWSP punched the ball in from nine yards out on a pass to Pankow to take a 10-0 lead in the first quarter with 4:06 to go.
• Down 10, Travon Hearns entered the game at quarterback for UWRF for the first time in the game. Hearns completed all four of his pass attempts on the drive, capped off by a 16 yard strike to Trenton Monson where the wide receiver made a jump on the ball and reached across the end zone with his defender draped on him. The touchdown cut the lead to 10-7 early in the second quarter.
• With momentum shifting, the Falcons defense took the field. Kyle Hunter set the tone on the first play of the drive with a five yard sack. The Pointers got a first down before Joey Leonard's tackle for loss on third and one forced a Pointer punt.
• The Falcons punted on their next drive, but a Falcon bounce gave the Pointers the ball on their own 12 yard line. The official punt was 63 yards, Owen Schommer's longest of the season.
• With UWSP set to punt on their own 13 yard line on fourth and 13 the Pointer punter attempted to run for the first down, he was stopped for a six yard run and the Falcons took over at the Pointer 13 yard line.
• Hearns entered the game again for UWRF and in just two plays the Falcons were in the end zone again, this time to take the lead. Hearns found Diggins for a 10 yard score to give UWRF the 14-10 lead with 6:35 to go in the half.
• The Falcon defense then forced a punt on the next Pointer possession and have the ball after a short punt at their own 40 yard line with 4:11 to go in the first half. The Falcons had a chance to score on a 35 yard field goal by Dylan Swerig. With plenty of leg, Swerig's kick went wide right and the Falcons settled for a 14-10 halftime lead.
• UW-River Falls took their first two possession lead on their first drive of the second half. After three first downs, Rance Ashley busted out a 42 yard touchdown, breaking multiple tackles before outrunning Pointer defenders into the end zone. The Falcons had a 21-10 lead after the Swerig extra point.
• Geno Demike then provided energy for the Falcon defense with a sack of eight yards on the first play of the drive. Two incompletions later, the Pointers punted again.  
• On the next drive, the Falcons marched 53 yards, and took off 7:01 on the clock with Hearns polishing it off with his third score of the day on a one yard touchdown sneak. After the failed extra point, the Falcons led 27-10 early in the fourth quarter.
• Hunter registered his second sack of the game on a crucial third down to force another punt by UWSP. Senior Robbie Flom took the ensuing punt 63 yards for the first punt return of the season for UW-River Falls. The Falcons converted the extra point to lead 34-10 with 10:58 to go.
• UWSP did not go away quietly, with a 46 yard touchdown from quarterback Kyle Larson to Jerry Williams the Pointers cut the lead to 34-16 after failing the two point conversion three times due to Falcon penalties.
• Both teams did not score the rest of the ball game, putting the Falcons into a tie with UWSP for fourth place in the WIAC at 3-4.

IN-DEPTH LOOK

• Total yards in the game favored the Falcons with 334 yards to the Pointers 219. UW-River Falls held the Pointes to just two yards rushing on 24 attempts.
• The Falcon defense had one of its best games of the season with a total of five sacks for 37 yards and nine tackles for loss. UWRF allowed just 12 Pointer first downs in the game.
• Individually, the defense was led by Ekman and Leonard who each had six tackles. Ekman also added a pass breakup in the game. Senior Albert Itula also had five solo tackles as well.
• Hunter registered two sacks in the game, bringing his total to 10 in 2016, which is top in the WIAC. Hunter's 10 sacks is the most by any individual player for UWRF since 2007 when Gregg Neumann had 12. Hunter also had 13.5 tackles for loss this season, the 2^nd most in the WIAC this season.
• The UW-River Falls offensive line provided an excellent pocket for their quarterbacks allowing zero sacks on the day. On the season, UWRF allowed just nine sacks, good enough for 2^nd fewest in the WIAC.
• The UW-River Falls quarterbacks combined for 15 completions on 20 attempts with Hearns scoring both passing touchdowns. Hearns was 7-8 on the day with Sawyer Moon going eight of 12 for 63 yards.
• This season Moon finished with 1717 yards passing and 11 touchdowns and Hearns finished with 557 yards and six touchdowns.
• In his last game as a Falcon, Ashley carried the ball 11 times for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 40 yards to total 127 yards of offense in the game, which was the game high. Diggins also carried 13 times for 31 yards. Moon five times for 56 yards and Brandon McCarthy had five carries for 31 yards.
• Diggins had the game-high in receptions with six for 39 yards. Nicholas Studer caught one pass for 23 yards and Monson had one catch for 16 yards and a touchdown.
• Monson totaled a team high five touchdowns this season. He caught 43 balls for 720 yards, good enough for fifth most yards per game in the WIAC. The 720 yards was the most by any one player since 2012 for UWRF.
• Tyler Halverson was second on the team in receiving yards in 2016 with 37 grabs for a total of 499 yards and two scores.
• Diggins 66 points scored this season was the most in a single season since 2008 when Joel Yogerst scored 66. Diggins also had the team high in rushing in 2016 with 541, the most by a single player since 2012.
• UW-River Falls graduates 10 seniors from the 2016 team. Those include Itula, Ashley, Ekman, Hunter, Flom, Griff Christenson, Tyler Ledbeter, Queety Badio, Andrew Brooks, and Reggie Larson.

 
 
THE OPPOSITION

• Larson was the leader for the Pointer offense with 217 yards passing on 32 attempts and two touchdowns.
• Britton Vernon rushed 14 times for 26 yards on the day. Jerry Williams was the leader in reciving with three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Pankow caught six catches for 74 yards and a score. Logan Tayor also had four catches for 36 yards.
• Blake Lehman wrestled down nine tackles in the game, with 1.5 tackles for a loss. Kevin Sanchez snagged the only interception by either team in the game in the second half. He returned the ball eight yards.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
UW-River Falls finishes 4-6 overall this season, 3-4 in the WIAC. The All-WIAC team is set to be announced in the coming weeks.