RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The No. 19-ranked UW-River Falls football team opened its 2025 season at home on Saturday afternoon, defeating Alma College by a score of 45-33 at Ramer Field.
UWRF compiled 561 yards of total offense, including 443 passing yards all from the arm of senior quarterback
Kaleb Blaha, a career-high total that's just 50 yards shy from the UWRF single-game record set by Ben Beckman in 2019. The Falcon defense forced a pair of Alma fumbles along with an interception from
Braden Jones.
Blaha completed 28 passes with five touchdowns, spreading the ball across a deep receiving corps led by
Stephen Reifenberger and
Austin Rush. Reifenberger had a career-high day, hauling in five catches for 185 yards with three touchdowns, while Rush scored twice.
Gage Timm led the defense with 12 tackles, followed by 10 from
Noah Nusbaum who also added 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
The Falcons struck first on the opening drive of the game as
Jaylen Reed scored in his first game as a Falcon, a 32-yard rush to give UWRF its first lead of the day, and the offense didn't look back. After Alma answered in the first quarter to trim the UWRF lead to 7-6, the home team put together three-straight scoring drives to lead 24-6 at halftime.
Alma made a strong push in the second half, considerably in the fourth quarter with a big 53-yard touchdown pass followed by a blocked punt return for a score to trim the UWRF lead to 45-33, but the Falcon defense stood tall and forced a pair of Scots' turnovers on downs late in the fourth to seal the win.
The Falcons, now 1-0 overall, return to Ramer Field next Saturday, Sept. 13, hosting Coe College.
