Football

UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater Advance To NCAA Football Second Round

**Releases courtesy of UW-La Crosse Sports Information and UW-Whitewater Sports Information

MADISON, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship after posting first round victories on Nov. 20.
 
No. 11-ranked UW-La Crosse (9-2) beat Albion College (Mich.) 58-23 in Albion, Mich., while No. 3-ranked UW-Whitewater (11-0) cruised to a 69-7 triumph over Greenville College (Ill.) in Whitewater.

The 58 points are the most for UW-La Crosse in a playoff game. The Eagles scored 55 points in a first round win (55-26) over Wartburg College (Iowa) in the 1993 NCAA Division III First Round. 

UW-La Crosse forced a three-and-out on Albion's first possession and quickly took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive. The Eagles went 48 yards in six plays and 2:13 with Jakob Parks throwing a one-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Sorenson with 11:53 remaining in the first quarter. Ryan Beirne converted the extra-point. The Britons turned the ball over on downs at the Eagles' 42-yard line on their next possession after Jack Bush's pass was broken up by Matthew Reinfeldt. UW-La Crosse took a 13-0 lead with 6:50 left in the opening quarter on Joey Stutzman’s eight-yard touchdown run. Beirne's extra-point was blocked. The drive went 58 yards in six plays and 2:28. The Eagles led, 13-0, after the first 15:00.

Parks' scored on a one-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to make it 20-0. The teams traded turnovers on its next possessions. UW-La Crosse's Josh Dorschner forced an Albion (Mich.) fumble with Ryan Daines recovering at the Britons' 39-yard line with 8:04 remaining in the first half. Five plays later, Parks connected with Dustin Schultz for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 5:32 left in the second quarter for a 27-0 lead.

Albion got on the board on Jackson Cooney's 39-yard field goal with 1:49 left. UW-La Crosse took a 34-3 halftime lead on Parks' 24-yard touchdown pass to Jake Simuncak with :14 remaining in the first half. 

Beirne connected on a 33-yard field goal with 11:58 remaining on UW-La Crosse's first drive of the third quarter to make it 37-3. The Britons scored their first touchdown with 6:51 left in the quarter as Bush hit Colby Canfield with a 17-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles responded on their next drive as Parks hit Sorenson with a 24-yard touchdown pass with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter for a 44-10 advantage. Bush threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Thomas with 1:26 left in the period to cut the lead to 44-16 after the extra-point was missed. 

Max Brower intercepted Bush with 8:01 left in the game and Parks threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Sorenson with 4:28 remaining, this one from 24-yards out for a 51-16 lead. Bryce Wesling converted the extra-point. Elijah Altintercepted Bush on the Britons' next offensive play and Ben Michalowski scored three plays later with a four-yard touchdown run with 2:32 left in the game for a 58-16 lead. Albion (Mich.) finished the scoring with Bush throwing a 58-yard touchdown pass with :37 remaining. 

UW-La Crosse finished with 546 yards of offense Saturday, including 261 rushing and 285 passing. The Eagles had 30 first downs in the game while going six-of-10 on third-down. UW-La Crosse was five-of-six in the red-zone. The Eagles won the time of possession, 38:51 to 21:09.  UW-La Crosse did not punt for the second straight game. 

Parks went 24-of-30 for 285 yards with five touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown. Sorenson totaled 81 yards on six catches with three touchdowns. Simuncak had 76 yards and one touchdown on six receptions. Stutzman led UW-La Crosse with 136 yards rushing on 19 carries with a touchdown. 

Albion (Mich.) totaled 340 yards as the Britons were held to negative one-yard rushing. Albion (Mich.) had 341 yards passing and finished with 17 first downs in the game. The team was seven-of-14 on third-down. 

Bush was 28-of-46 for 341 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Jacob Clark had 11 yards rushing on seven carries. Canfield finished with 73 yards on seven catches with a touchdown while Thomas totaled 70 yards on five receptions and a touchdown. 

Daines led UW-La Crosse's defense with six tackles, while Cade Osborn recorded five. Jeremiah Major led Albion (Mich.) with 16 tackles with Stephen Douglas finishing with 11.
 
UW-La Crosse will travel to Naperville, Ill., for its second round contest against top-ranked North Central College on Nov. 27. Kickoff is set for noon.
 
Against Greenville (8-3), Alex Peete paced the UW-Whitewater offense with 93 yards rushing and four touchdowns (one receiving), eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the season for the third time in his career. Max Meylor threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, and Ryan WIsniewski led the receiving corps with five receptions 98 yards and one touchdown.
 
Hawk Heffner led the defense with 11 tackles, and Luke Nelson collected eight stops. UW-Whitewater limited the Panthers to 72 rushing yards, more than 175 yards below their season average.
 
The Warhawks tallied four touchdowns in the first 15 minutes of action. Meylor hit Peete for a 27-yard catch-and-run on third-and-16 for the first score of the game, and, after UW-Whitewater recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Meylor found Wisniewski for a five-yard score.
 
Greenville drove into Warhawk territory on the next drive, but the defense put together a fourth-down stop. UW-Whitewater then embarked on an eight-play, 69-yard drive capped by Peete's 1-yard touchdown for a 21-0 lead with 2:18 on the clock.
 
On the next drive, Thomas Wojnowski stepped in front of Chase Butterfield's pass at the 25-yard line and ran it in untouched for a 25-yard touchdown.
 
The Panthers found the end zone with just over three minutes to play in the second quarter to cut their deficit to 28-7 before halftime.
 
Following a three-and-out by Greenville on the opening possession of the second half, Peete zig-zaged his way through the defense for a 32-yard touchdown at the 11:22 mark of the third quarter to bring the UW-Whitewater lead back to 28 points.
 
A 13-yard touchdown pass from Meylor to Tyler Holte, which was set up by Wisniewski's 49-yard reception, made it 41-7 with 9:20 remaining in the quarter. Peete posted a 10-yard touchdown run, and Evan Lewandowski tossed a 12-yard score to Michael Berentes as UW-Whitewater closed the period with a 55-7 advantage.
 
Lewandowski avoided pressure to his right and found Dain Hudson near the goal line for a 34-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Ryan Ponick completed the scoring just over three minutes later with an 11-yard touchdown run.
 
UW-Whitewater's offensive scoring output was its highest in the NCAA Playoffs since 2009, when it defeated Lakeland University (Wis.) 70-7 in the first round.

UW-Whitewater will host DePauw University (Ind.) in the second round on Nov. 27. Kickoff is set for noon.
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