UW-L Falls to UW-Stevens Point

For Immediate Release: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

La Crosse, Wis. - The UW-Stevens Point football team earned a 26-14 victory over UW-La Crosse Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Pointers improve to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the WIAC while the Eagles fall to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

UW-Stevens Point remains in a first-place tie with UW-Whitewater and will host the Warhawks Saturday, Oct. 31. UW-L is now tied for third in the WIAC with UW-Stout and UW-Oshkosh.

After UW-L was forced to punt on the game's first possesion, UW-Stevens Point drove 65 yards in 13 plays to take a 6-0 lead. Jared Beckwith scored on a one-yard run with 7:52 left in the opening quarter, but Andrew Clohan's extra-point was blocked.

UW-L took a 7-6 lead with 14:05 remaining in the second quarter as Reid Oldenburg scored on a one-yard run. Dylan Rude's extra-point gave the Eagles the one-point lead.

UW-L's Billy Niggeman intercepted a Beckwith pass and returned it 41 yards to the Pointers' 16-yard line with :42 left in the first half, but Eagles' quarterback Nick Anker was intercepted by UW-Stevens Point's Kody Morgan at the Pointers' seven-yard line. Morgan took the ball back to UW-L's 33-yard line and as he was being tackled by Anker lateraled the ball back to Bryan Blum who returned it the final 33-yards for a go-ahead touchdown. The Pointers' two-point attempt failed and UW-Stevens Point led 12-7 at halftime.

The Pointers took a 19-7 lead in the third quarter as Beckwith hit Keith Ingram for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:12 remaining. Clohan's extra-point was good. UW-L cut the lead to 19-14 with 10:01 left in the game as Oldenburg scored on a two-yard run, but UW-Stevens Point's Colton Zimmerman returned the ensuing kickoff to the UW-L 40-yard line.

Beckwith connected with Anthony Aker for a 39-yard completion and two plays later Mike Ferron scored on a two-yard run with 8:41 left for a 26-14 lead.

UW-L finished with 375 yards of offense, including 103 rushing and 272 passing. Oldenburg had 111 yards rushing on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Anker was 17-of-32 for 161 yards with two interceptions and was replaced in the fourth quarter by Dan Trussoni. Trussoni finished 10-of-18 for 111 yards with an interception. Alex Maxinoski had 12 catches for 130 yards.

UW-Stevens Point totaled 288 yards, including 111 rushing and 177 passing. Garrett Medenwald had 82 yards rushing on 22 carries while Beckwith was 16-of-36 for 177 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Medenwald had six catches for 35 yards.

The teams combined to finish six-of-29 on third-down (UW-Stevens Point four-of-15; UW-L two-of-14).

Dustin Drath led the Eagles' defense with 11 tackles, including eight solo. Niggeman and Matt Winney each recorded an interception. Nicholas Matthews had 3.0 tackles for loss.

Joe Mleziva led the Pointers' with 15 tackles, including 14 solo. Matt Lunder had three quarterback sacks while Morgan had two interceptions. Mike Krueger also had an interception.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, Oct. 31 hosting UW-Stout at 1 p.m.