Madison, S.D. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened its 2021 season with a 42-21 victory at National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Dakota State University (S.D.) Saturday night at Trojan Field. The Trojans drop to 1-1 on the season.
UWL's Matt Janus earned his first career victory as head coach with Saturday's win. Named the Eagles' head coach on February 5, 2020, Janus served as UWL's defensive coordinator for three seasons. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 public health threat.
UWL improves to 8-1 in its last nine season openers, including seven straight wins. The Eagles and Trojans were meeting for the first time in school history.
Playing its first game in 658 days, UWL forced a three-and-out from Dakota State (S.D.) to start the game. The Eagles took their opening drive 70 yards in 13 plays with Jakob Parks throwing a six-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Sorenson with 7:59 left in the opening quarter. Ryan Beirne converted the extra-point. UWL led, 7-0, at the first quarter.
The Trojans missed a 53-yard field goal with 11:57 remaining in the second quarter and the Eagles went 64 yards in nine plays to take a 14-0 lead. Joey Stutzman scored on a 10-yard run with 8:12 left with Beirne converting the extra-point. Dakota State's (S.D.) Zach Brooks was later intercepted by UWL's Austin Larson with :59 left in the first half. Four plays later, Cade Garcia connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jake Simuncak with :26 remaining. Beirne's extra-point made it 21-0 at halftime.
UWL took a 28-0 lead on its first drive of the second half. The Eagles went 75 yards in nine plays with Parks hitting Sorenson from four-yards out. Dakota State (S.D.) responded on the ensuing drive as Cole Siegfried caught an 83-yard touchdown pass from Brooks to make it 28-7 with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter. Parks and Sorenson connected for the third time in the game with 3:06 left in the third period, this time from six-yards out. UWL went 56 yards in six plays to take a 35-7 lead.
Garcia hit Jack Studer with a five-yard touchdown pass with 13:00 remaining in the game to give the Eagles a 42-7 lead. The drive went 34 yards in seven plays. The Trojans cut the lead to 42-14 as Darius Richards returned an Garcia pass 28-yards for a touchdown with 11:32 left. Dakota State (S.D.) scored the final touchdown of the game with 2:18 remaining on a Jack Anderson one-yard run. The Trojans went 80 yards in 12 plays to make it 42-21.
UWL finished with 411 yards of offense, including 186 rushing and 225 passing. The Eagles totaled 22 first downs, going nine-of-15 on third-down and five-of-five in red-zone chances. UWL won the time of possession, 39:35 to 20:25.
Parks went 18-of-28 for 178 yards and three touchdowns in his first career game with UWL. Garcia finished five-of-seven for 47 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Stutzman had 117 yards rushing on 20 carries (5.8 average) and one touchdown while Simuncak caught 10 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown. Sorenson had three touchdown catches on five receptions.
Dakota State (S.D.) had 256 yards of offense (nine rushing; 247 passing). The Trojans finished with 16 first downs while going eight-of-16 on third-down and one-of-one in the red zone. Brooks went 15-of-37 for 247 yards with one touchdown and one interception while Anderson had 19 yards rushing on 12 attempts. Dajshon Keel caught four passes for 95 yards.
Ryan Daines led UWL's defense with seven tackles, including six solo. He finished with 4.5 tackles for loss. Rusty Murphy totaled five tackles. Daines, Jack Anderson, Cory Kaiser and AJ Spychala each recorded a sack for the Eagles. Gustavo Bonilla led Dakota State (S.D.) with 12 tackles.
UWL returns to action Saturday, September 11 hosting the University of Dubuque (Iowa) at 6 p.m. in its home opener at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
UWL Wins Season Opener; Janus Earns First Career Victory
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210904_8mjx.xml
2021
UW-La Crosse
42
Dakota St.
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 UW-La Crosse (1-0) | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| Dakota St. (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
Sep 04, 2021