Football

UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater Share Football Championship

MADISON, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater secured a share of the 2022 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) football championship with victories on Nov. 12.
 
UW-La Crosse (6-1 WIAC, 9-1 overall) posted a 31-10 triumph over UW-Platteville (4-3, 5-5) at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex, while UW-Whitewater (6-1, 8-2) claimed a 79-10 win over UW-Stevens Point (0-7, 1-9) at Perkins Stadium.
 
The conference title is the 34th in program history – and first since 2004 – for the Eagles, while the Warhawks posted a first-place finish for the fourth straight season and 39th time overall.
 
UW-Whitewater receives the conference’s automatic NCAA bid due to its 34-31 victory over UW-La Crosse on Oct. 1.
 
UW-La Crosse, ranked No. 7 by D3football.com, took the opening kickoff against UW-Platteville and drove 75 yards in five plays and 2:45 with Cade Garcia throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Bartol with 12:15 remaining in the first quarter to make it 7-0.  Ryan Beirne converted the extra-point. Garcia hit Cameron Sorenson with a 44-yard pass on the second play of the drive. 

UW-Platteville was forced to punt on its first drive and UW-La Crosse took a 14-0 lead as Garcia and Matthijs Enters combined a three-yard touchdown pass with 6:31 left in the opening quarter. The Eagles went 75 yards in eight plays and 4:16. The Eagles took a 17-0 lead with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter on Ryan Beirne’s 21-yard field goal. The drive went 76 yards in 13 plays and 7:45. It was Beirne's 32nd career field goal, breaking Jedediah Jensen's (2000-04) school record of 31. 

UW-La Crosse maintained its 17-0 lead at halftime. 

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard on their first drive of the third quarter, going 45 yards in nine plays and 4:11 as Andrew Schweigert hit a 43-yard field goal to make it 17-3. After forcing a UW-La Crosse punt, UW-Platteville only needed two plays to cut the lead to 17-10. Michael Priami hit Garrett Stare with a 42-yard pass on the first play and followed with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Durocher with 7:14 left in the third quarter. The Pioneers went 76 yards in two plays and :39.  

The Eagles responded on the ensuing drive to regain a 14-point lead. UW-La Crosse went 75 yards in 11 plays and 5:49 with Joey Stutzman scoring on a four-yard run with 1:32 left in the quarter. Garcia completed three third-down passes for first downs on the drive. UW-Platteville drove to UW-La Crosse's 41-yard line on the next drive, but Will Lawrence fumbled with AJ Spychala recovering at the Eagles' 40-yard line. It was Spychala's second fumble recovery of the game. Aaron Schmitz forced the Lawrence fumble on fourth-and-one. 

After UW-La Crosse missed a 32-yard field goal, UW-Platteville took over at its own 20-yard line. After a Priami completion for four yards to Lawrence, Jack Kelly recorded a sack for UW-La Crosse to put the ball at the six-yard line. Ryan Daines and Kelly combined on another sack on the next play with Josh Dorschner recovering in the end zone for a touchdown. Daines forced the fumble as UW-La Crosse took a 31-10 lead with 7:42 left in the game. UW-Platteville drove to UW-La Crosse's 11-yard line on the next drive, but Priami was intercepted by Tate Pitcher in the end zone. 

UW-La Crosse finished with 409 yards of offense, including 120 rushing and 289 passing. The Eagles totaled 20 first downs while going eight-of-14 on third-down. UW-La Crosse won the time of possession, 35:38 to 24:22, and were four-of-five in the red-zone. 

Garcia went 16-of-254 for 289 yards with two touchdowns while Enters finished with seven catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Sorenson totaled five catches for 139 yards. Stutzman finished with 95 yards rushing on 31 carries and a touchdown. 

UW-Platteville totaled 301 yards with 40 rushing and 261 passing. The Pioneers finished with 17 first downs and went two-of-10 on third-down. 

Priami finished 26-of-33 for 261 yards with one touchdown and one interception while being sacked five times. Garrett Stare led UW-Platteville with nine catches for 92 yards while Will Lawrence finished with 59 yards rushing on 10 carries. 

Spychala led UW-La Crosse with eight tackles, including six unassisted, while finishing with two fumble recoveries. Kelly had six tackles, five unassisted, 3.5 quarterback sacks and one forced fumble. Daines, Dorschner, Cade Osborn and Jack Anderson each finished with five tackles. 
 
Against UW-Stevens Point, the Warhawks, ranked No. 10 by D3football.com, set a program record for points scored, surpassing the previous record of 75 that had stood since 2006.

UW-Whitewater dominated in the first half behind a record performance on the ground for Jaylon Edmonson. His four touchdowns tied the program record for rushing TDs in a game. In addition to the points record, UW-Whitewater also broke team records for rushing touchdowns (10), touchdowns (11) and points after touchdowns (11). The Warhawks 523 yards rushing is just 46 shy of the program record set in 1987.

The Pointers took the opening kick, drove down and hit a 30-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

On the Warhawks' second play from scrimmage, Edmonson went up the gut for 66 yards and his first touchdown. He scored again on his next carry, a 19-yard scamper up the middle to make it 14-3 on UW-Whitewater's next possession.

A fumble on UW-Stevens Point’s punt was downed at the Pointers' nine. Tamir Thomas was tapped for the carry and he followed Edmonson's lead, going up the middle for a touchdown. The next drive featured a 44-yard Thomas rush to the one followed by an Edmonson punch in for his third rushing TD of the contest.

 The Warhawks' next score came through the air as Evan Lewandowski hit Tyler Holte for a 51-yard touchdown strike. The final score of the quarter came on a bad snap on a Pointer punt that went through the back of the endzone for a safety and a 37-3 UW-Whitewater lead.

By halftime, the UW-Whitewater lead ballooned to 65-3. 

UW-Stevens Point scored on a 33-yard pass play in the third. Preston Strasburg registered his second touchdown of the day on a 38-yard run and Alijah Maher-Parr wrapped up the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring. 

The Warhawks registered 644 yards of offense in the game. Makaito Harn had a phenomenal second half with 122 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Edmonson tallied the program record four TD carries with 112 yards on five rushes. Strasburg added 107 yards on the ground and a pair of rushing touchdowns. 

Lewandowski was 5-5 for 106 yards and the one passing TD. Jason Ceniti and Jackson Chryst captained the offense in the second half. Holte led the Warhawks with 84 yards on three receptions. 

Defensively, Ethan Gallagher tallied eight tackles including a tackle for a loss of two yards and a quarterback hurry. Joey Antoniette posted seven tackles while Reed Farrington and Kyle Gallagher each posted sacks in the contest. 
 
# # # # #