La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened its 2015 season with 26-19 victory over Luther College (Iowa) Friday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex in front of a crowd of 3,886. The Norse were also playing their season-opener.
In the first meeting between the two teams since 1960, Luther was forced to punt after its first possession of the game ended after three plays. A seven-yard punt gave UWL the ball at Luther's 48-yard line. Seven plays later, Matt Van Druten connected on a 29-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead with 9:13 left in the first half. UWL went 36 yards on seven plays and 3:29. UWL led 3-0 at the first quarter.
The Eagles took a 6-0 lead with 4:55 remaining in the second quarter as Van Druten hit from 37-yards out. The Eagles went 27 yards on 11 plays and 5:12. After UWL's Eric Bitney recovered a fumble by Luther's Damon Stroup, the Eagles drove to the Norse' 29-yard line. Joshua Fischer's 46-yard field goal was blocked by Aric Elton as UWL took a 6-0 halftime lead.
UWL was forced to punt on the first drive of the second half and Luther drove 94 yards on 11 plays in 5:42 to tie the game as Brady Letney scored on a one-yard run. Alex Knutson's extra-point was missed and the game remained tied 6-6 with 6:58 remaining in the third period. UWL quickly responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive in 3:18 as Trent Cummings connected on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Nick Holcomb. Van Druten's extra-point made it 13-6 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage on Luther's next possession, Steve Law recovered a Letney fumble at the Norse' 19-yard line. Three plays later, Cummings hit Joel Oxton on a three-yard touchdown pass and Van Druten converted the extra-point to make it 20-6 wiht 2:32 remaining in the quarter. The Eagles went three plays and 19 yards in 1:05. UWL led 20-6 after three quarters.
The Norse cut the margin to 20-12 early in the fourth quarter with Christian Moore scoring on a three-yard touchown run with 13:05 remaining. Knutson missed his second straight extra-point attempt as Luther went 80 yards on 10 plays nad 4:29.
Each team punted on its next possessions before Cummings threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this one from 30-yards out to Mike Santucci with 8:01 left in the game. UWL went 37 yards on three plays and :45 taking a 26-12 advantage. Van Druten hit the upright on his extra-point attempt.
Luther cut the lead to 26-19 with 6:19 remaining with Moore scoring on a seven-yard run. The Norse went 75 yards on five plays and 1:48. Stroup hit Jon Cochrane on a 51-yard pass play to open the series.
UWL turned the ball over on downs on its next possession with Luther taking over at its own 18-yard line wiht 2:54 left. The Norse drove to the Eagles' 31-yard line, but Letney's pass was knocked down by Jake Perner on fourth-down with :29 left.
UWL finished with 389 yards of offense Friday, including 163 rushing and 226 passing. The Eagles were five-of-14 on third-down, three-of-four in red-zone chances and won the time of possession, 30:59 to 29:01. Cummings tied his career-high with three passing touchdowns, finishing 19-of-27 for 226 yards. He was sacked once. Santucci caught nine passes for 121 yards and one touchdown while Tyler Jenkins led UWL with 59 yards rushing on 11 carries. Austin Mancosky finished with 43 yards rushing on 13 attempts.
Luther totaled 387 yards, including 243 rushing and 144 passing. The Norse finished seven-of-15 on third-down and three-of-three in the red-zone. Letney finished five-of-eight passing for 81 yards while Stroup was three-of-eight for 63 yards. Cochrane caught four passes for 110 yards. Moore led Luther with 117 yards rushing on 17 carries and two touchdowns.
Ryan Weber led UWL with 15 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. Jon Becker recorded 11 tackles. Elton led Luther wiht 18 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and one blocked field goal attempt. Josh Olerud added 10 tackles for the Norse.
"I'm proud of the way we played," said UWL fifth-year head coach Joel Dettwiler. "We didn't quit, we just kept coming back."
UWL returns to action Saturday, September 12 at 14th-ranked the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) at 1 p.m.
UWL Opens Season with Victory over Luther
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20150904_z3ru.xml
2015
Luther
19
UW-La Crosse
26
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luther (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| UW-La Crosse (1-0) | 3 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 26 |
Sep 04, 2015