Whitewater, Wisc. (uwrfsports.com) – Facing their biggest test this season, the UW-River Falls football team took on the challenge of the second ranked UW-Whitewater Warhawks. The Falcons brought the Warhawks to the brink of defeat before ultimately falling in overtime 27-20.  

THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UW-River Falls: 20 UW-Whitewater: 27
Location: Perkins Stadium, Whitewater, Wisconsin
Record: UWRF: 3-6 (2-4 WIAC) UW-Whitewater 9-0 (6-0 WIAC)
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• To begin the game the Falcons obtained a first down and punted before forcing a Whitewater three-and-out on their first drive.
• UWRF would drive down to the Warhawks seven yard line before turning the ball over on downs. The drive highlighted by countless short gains by the Falcons and three first downs.
• With the score still knotted at zero, Whitewater would again go three-and-out and the Falcons obtained the ball once again.
• On the ensuing drive, UWRF was faced with a third and 18 when quarterback Sawyer Moon connected with wide receiver Tyler Halverson on a 41 yard catch to give the Falcons the ball in the red zone for the second time in the 1^st quarter.
• The Warhawks defense would eventually stop the Falcons and the Falcons settled for a field goal attempt. UWRF was unable to connect on the 27 yard field goal when the Warhawks blocked the ball and the score remained tied.  
• Whitewater would be first to score on the next drive. Marcus Hudson hauled in catches of 26 and 43 to set up the 28 yard field goal that was successful. Whitewater then led 3-0 with 11:02 to go in the first half.
• Facing a deficit, quarterback Travon Hearns marched the Falcons down the field with both his arm and his legs. A 15 yard run by Hearns and a 20 yard completion to Trenton Monson put the Falcons right back in the red zone.
• After the 15 yard run by Hearns, the quarterback stood in the pocket on first and 10 and delivered a strike to Monson who hauled in the 32 yard touchdown to give UWRF the 6-3 lead. The ensuing extra point was partially blocked keeping the score at 6-3.  
• The UW-River Falls defense continued their dominant first half of play stopping the second ranked Warhawks to a third three-and-out in the first half and gave the Falcons prime position, up by three points and with the ball.
• The receiving duo of Monson and Halverson helped the Falcons march down the field with catches of 10 and 14. The Falcons would score and take a two possession lead on a wild play where Moon found Monson deep down the field. Monson bobbled the ball for a moment before hauling in the pass and reaching out for the goal line. With the score the Falcons had a 12-3 lead. The two point conversion was failed.
• UWRF held the Warhawks to another three-and-out on the ensuing drive and took the ball back with one timeout and 2:49 to go in the game.
• The Falcons took the opportunity and had the ball at the Whitewater 41 yard line with just a minute and a half remaining when Moon launched a ball that was intercepted in the end zone. Whitewater would run out the remaining clock and trailed 12-3 headed to the locker room.
• In the second half, the Falcons defense started just as they began, with a three-and-out. In the first half UWRF had held the Warhawks to less than 100 yards of total offense and kept the WIAC's leading rusher Drew Patterson to under 25 yards.
• The Falcons would fumble on their next drive on a strip sack and it would lead to a touchdown by freshman Cam Maly who came in for the injured Patterson to bring the score to 12-10 in the third quarter.
• With the game tightening up, UWRF took over and after a penalty on the kickoff, started at midfield. Slowly churning their way down the field, the Falcons were faced with a fourth and goal from the four yard line. Moon was able to scamper to the far sideline and dive into the endzone to give the Falcons a two-possession lead once again. The two point conversion was successful and UWRF led 20-10.
• Forcing a three-and-out once again, the Falcons fumbled the punt return and the Warhawks recovered inside the red zone. The turnover would lead to another Warhawk touchdown and the lead was cut to 20-17 at the end of the third quarter.
• After a Falcon punt, the Warhawks would lead a 10 play 51 yard drive to tie the game on a 33 yard kick with 14:51 to go in the fourth quarter.
• The Warhawks would have numerous opportunities to take the lead back from the Falcons, but couldn't capitalize. Finally with a 37 yard field goal attempt, the Warhawks had a chance. The kick was missed wide right, and the Falcons still had life.
• The Falcons would be forced to punt on the next drive and the Warhawks had the ball with 2:42 to go tied at 20.
• UW-Whitewater would reach the UWRF 35 yard line before a Cole Wilber pass was deflected and intercepted by Robbie Flom, his second of the day. UWRF would toss a hail mary at the end of the game that was intercepted, forcing overtime.
• In overtime, the Falcons won the toss and played defense first. The Warhawks would score on a number of plays on the ground and converted their extra point to lead 27-20.
• UWRF would take over in their overtime possession and drive down to the six yard line before a fumble recovered by the Warhawks which ended the game.

IN-DEPTH LOOK

• The Falcons outgained the Warhawks 368-308 in the ball game. The Falcons ran a total of 75 plays with UW-Whitewater running 70.
• With 112 rushing yards in the game, Rance Ashley led the way with 47 yards. Travon Hearns rushed four times for a total of 25 yards.
• In the passing game, Moon attempted 26 passes and completed 11 for 168 yards and one touchdown. Hearns also attempted 11 passes and completed eight for 88 yards and a touchdown.
• Leading in the catching department was Monson who finished with eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. He was complimented by Halverson who hauled in six catches for 85 yards. Alex Hohenstein lined up in the slot numerous times and caught four passes for 32 yards.
• Defensively, the Falcons put on a masterful performance. Albert Itula was the leader with nine tackles, seven being individual and one for a loss.
• Joey Leonard had his best performance as a Falcon with eight tackles, two for a loss and also a huge pass deflection in the second half.
• Matt Ekman had seven tackles for UWRF and Kyle Hunter had six and added to his sack total with one sack. Hunter now has a total of eight sacks in 2016.
• UWRF was six of 18 on third down in the game, and held the Warhawks to five of 19.

 
 
THE OPPOSITION

• Maly took over for Patterson and rushed 20 times for 102 yards and a touchdown.
• Cole Wilber led the passing attack with eight completions on 24 attempts. His teammate Chris Nelson missed his one attempt but also ran the ball 12 times for 72 yards.
• The Warhawks forced seven turnovers in the game which puts them at +22 in the turnover margin, the best in the WIAC.
• Reciver Marcus Hudson was explosive, he caught three passes for 83 yards.
• Leading in tackles for UWRF was Paul Foster with eight total. Bennett Young, Vince Mason, and Matt Seitz each had seven for the Warhawks.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
UW-River Falls will host their final game of the season against UW-Stevens Point next week on November 12^th with a 2:05 kickoff. Last season the Pointers defeated the Falcons by a score of 44-0.