UW-L Wins Final Game Played at Veterans Field

For Immediate Release: Saturday, November 10, 2007

La Crosse, Wis. – The UW-La Crosse football team earned a 24-21 victory over UW-Stevens Point Saturday afternoon in the final game played at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field. The facility is expected to be torn down in June, 2008 with a new complex opening in 2009. UW-L improved its all-time record to 217-69-9 at Veterans Memorial Field, including 29-10 under current head coach Larry Terry.

With the victory, UW-L records its 36th winning season in the last 38 years as the Eagles finish 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the WIAC. UW-Stevens Point ends its season at 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

UW-Stevens Point quarterback Jake Swank fumbled on the first play from scrimmage Saturday and UW-L's Joe Troia recovered the ball at the Pointers' 20-yard line. The Eagles took a 7-0 lead with 11:32 left in the opening quarter as offensive guard Randy Gyllin scored on a one-yard run. UW-Stevens Point came right back on the next possession to tie the contest as Swank hit Jared Jenkins with a seven-yard touchdown pass.

UW-L took a 10-7 lead with 3:54 left in the first quarter as Kyle Wojcik hit a 24-yard field goal. Swank was then intercepted on the next possession by Adam Neitzel and quarterback Griffin Moe scored on a one-yard run to give the Eagles a 17-7 lead. Jack Marx cut the deficit to 17-14 with 8:14 remaining in the first half on a five-yard touchdown run. UW-L led 17-14 at halftime.

On the game's first possession of the second half, UW-L drove to its own 49-yard line and was forced to punt, but UW-Stevens Point was called for a roughing penalty on punter Brett Nagan. The penalty gave the Eagles a first down at the Pointers' 36-yard line. Five plays later, Reid Oldenburg scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to give UW-L a 24-14 lead.

Marx tallied his second rushing touchdown of the game with 5:17 left on a two-yard run to cut the lead to 24-21. After forcing a UW-L punt, Nick Venden was intercepted by UW-L's Derick Dreher in the end-zone with 2:04 remaining. The Eagles ran three rushing plays forcing the Pointers to use all three of their timeouts, but UW-Stevens Point got the ball back after a Nagan punt with 1:04 left. Neitzel then recorded his second interception of the game at UW-L's 30-yard line with :35 left to secure the win.

UW-L finished with 384 yards of offense, including 211 rushing and 173 passing. Dan Hall totaled 77 yards rushing on 17 carries, but was forced to miss the second half with an injury. Eric Donoval had 71 yards rushing on 15 attempts while Oldenburg had 50 yards on nine carries. Moe was 20-of-34 passing for 173 yards with one interception. Jason Wagner led the Eagles with five catches for 64 yards while Donoval (28 yards), Brian Edmiston (25) and Mike Schmidt (23) each had three catches.

UW-Stevens Point totaled 299 yards Saturday, including 144 rushing and 155 passing. The Pointers had seven turnovers in the contest, including four interceptions and three fumbles. Marx had a game-high 125 yards rushing on 26 attempts and two touchdowns. Venden was 13-of-22 passing for 142 yards and two interceptions while Swank finished two-of-six for 13 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Aaron Leonhardt caught six passes for 57 yards.

Drew Kiefer and Troia led UW-L with eight tackles each. Kiefer also had one sack and a forced fumble while Troia had a fumble recovery. Neitzel had two interceptions for UW-L while Dreher and Dan Sellers each had one. Dustin Robinson led UW-Stevens Point with 16 tackles, including 15 solo. Tyler Florczak and Brett Hirsch each had 11 tackles for the Pointers with Florczak adding two tackles for loss, an interception and pass break-up.