La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team improved to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 31-28 victory over UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles, ranked fourth on this week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll, earned their fourth straight win over the Titans. UW-Oshkosh drops to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the WIAC.
The Titans took the opening kickoff and drove to the Eagles' 25-yard line, but Kobe Berghammer was stopped by Tanner Newlin for no gain on fourth-and-one. UWL used nine plays to go 75 yards and 3:29 to take a 7-0 lead on Keyser Helterbrand's 10-yard touchdown pass to Jack Studer with 7:29 left in the first quarter.
UW-Oshkosh missed a 41-yard field goal by Nolan Mobley with 3:30 left in the opening period and UWL turned it into a touchdown six plays later with Gabe Lynch scoring on a five-yard run with :43 remaining in the first quarter. The Eagles went 76 yards in six plays and 2:47. UWL led, 14-0, after the first quarter.
UW-Oshkosh got on the scoreboard with 12:30 remaining in the second quarter as Berghammer connected with Doug Burson on a 11-yard touchdown pass. The drive went 80 yards in eight plays and 3:06. Mobley's extra-point was blocked by UWL's Nate Hietpas to keep the score at 14-6.
UWL quickly responded on its ensuing drive to extend the lead to 21-6 when Helterbrand hit Tyler Bowman on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left in the first half. Michael Stack made the extra-point.
The teams traded touchdowns as UW-Oshkosh went 57 yards in 12 plays and 4:29 to cut the lead to 21-14 on Daniel Fynaardt's two-yard touchdown pass from Berghammer with 4:53 left in the first half. The Titans converted the two-point conversion on Berghammer's pass to Fynaardt.
UWL drove to UW-Oshkosh's nine-yard line on the next possession, but Helterbrand was intercepted by Kyle Dietzen at the Titans' two-yard line with :01 left in the half.
UW-Oshkosh recovered an onside kick to start the second half, but Berghammer's fourth-down pass was broken-up by Tate Pitcher. UWL drove to the UW-Oshkosh 32-yard line, but Helterbrand's fourth-down pass was incomplete. Three plays later, the Titans were forced to punt with the Eagles taking over at their own 37-yard line. UWL took a 24-14 lead on Stack's 40-yard field goal with 4:14 left in the third quarter. The Eagles went 41 yards in nine plays and 5:05.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Berghammer scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 24-21 after Mobley's extra-point with 14:55 left. UWL retook its 10-point lead on the next drive as Helterbrand scored on a 21-yard run with 9:31 remaining. Stack's extra-point made it 31-21 as the Eagles went 75 yards in 10 plays and 5:24.
Berghammer and Trae Tetzlaff connected on the Titans' next drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 4:26 left. UW-Oshkosh went 91 yards on the drive in 11 plays and 5:04. The drive was extended after a holding penalty by UWL on fourth-and-11 and the Titans' 48-yard line.
UWL took over on its own 19-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Helterbrand had 55 yards rushing on eight straight plays, including a pair of first down carries on third down. His six-yard run on third-and-six sealed the win as UWL had a pair of kneel downs to end the game.
UWL finished with 478 yards of offense, including 275 rushing and 203 passing. The Eagles had 24 first downs and finished 11-of-13 on third-down. UWL won the time of possession, 31:32 to 28:28.
Helterbrand went 13-of-20 passing for 203 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for a team-high 145 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Studer had five receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown while Bowman (38 yards), Wyatt LeMoine (41) and Lynch (9) each had two catches. Lynch rushed for 102 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown.
UW-Oshkosh totaled 385 yards with 48 rushing and 337 passing. The Titans finished with 23 first downs and 11-of-16 on third-down.
Berghammer finished 32-of-45 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for 23 yards and one touchdown. Tetzlaff caught nine passes for 85 yards and one touchdown while Fynaardt had six receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown.
Aaron Schmitz and Adam Quam led UWL with eight tackles each while Carson Raddatz had a game-high nine for UW-Oshkosh.
UWL returns to action Saturday, October 28 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 11:30 a.m. for Senior Day/Veterans Day.
UWL Earns Homecoming Victory over UW-Oshkosh; Remains Undefeated in WIAC Play
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231021_o3mk.xml
2023
UW-Oshkosh
28
UW-La Crosse
31
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-Oshkosh (4-3) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| No. 4 UW-La Crosse (6-1) | 14 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
Oct 21, 2023