RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The No. 17-ranked UW-River Falls football team defeated UW-Stevens Point by a score of 56-3 victory Saturday afternoon at David Smith Stadium during UWRF Homecoming and the WIAC opener.
The Falcon defense held the Pointers to just a field goal with 104 yards of total offense and just six first downs, forcing 11 Pointer punts. The UWRF offense compiled a season-high 603 yards of total offense, 277 on the ground and 326 through the air.
Sophomore quarterback
Kaleb Blaha accounted for five of UWRF's eight total touchdowns, passing for three and rushing in two. He finished with 221 passing yards, completing 18 of 23 passing attempts, and 101 rushing yards.
UWRF did most of its damage in the first half, taking just three possessions to earn a 14-0 lead. Blaha opened the scoring with a 44-yard TD run and the next drive completed a 31-yard touchdown reception to
Mason Van Zeeland in the remaining seconds first quarter.
Blaha added another rushing score early in the second quarter before UWSP notched its first and only score of the game, a 27-yard field goal. UWRF answered with three more touchdowns to take a commanding 42-3 halftime lead.
A Blaha to
Tim Oeun 36-yard connection through the air extended the Falcon lead to 28-3 before the Falcon defense got on the board. Near the midway point of the second frame,
Michael Brown recorded one of his two interceptions on the day and took it to the house, a 40-yard "pick-six."
Blaha tallied his third touchdown pass late in the first half to
Luke Kush from 14 yards out. UWRF shutout the Pointers in the second half, holding the visitors to just three first downs. A pair of rushing scores from
Michael Krueger, his team-leading sixth and seventh of the season, padded the Falcon lead.
Defensively, the Falcons totaled nine tackles for a loss of 20 yards, forced one fumble, broke up five passes with five quarterback hurries, and collected three interceptions - two from
Michael Brown and one more from
Stetler Harms. Harms led the team with a total of seven tackles.
Place kicker Justin Scherberl finished a perfect 8-for-8 on PATs, and kickoff specialist
Dawson Kriske totaled 539 kicking yards with a trio of touchbacks.
UWRF, now 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the WIAC, returns to action next weekend, hosting No. 16-ranked UW-Oshkosh.
