UW-Eau Claire (7-1) vs UW-La Crosse (5-3)
Saturday, November 9, 11:30 AM
Roger Harring Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium, La Crosse, WI

Series History: Saturday’s match-up between UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse marks the 70th meeting between both schools with the Eagles holding an 18-49-2 advantage. In last season’s 10-7 victory the Blugolds used a record-setting day from Darrell Souhrada to defeat the Eagles. Breaking Lee Weigel’s 17-year old school rushing record of 4,105 yards, Souhrada gained a season-high 178 yards-125 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter. Nick Diciaula broke a 7-7 tie with a 22-yard field goal with 6:12 remaining in regulation to win the game for the Blugolds.

Radio: WBIZ-AM Sportsradio 1400 will cover the game for the Blugolds with Mike Sullivan performing the play-by-play duties.

For La Crosse WKTY-AM 580 will cover the game with Mike Kearns calling the play-by-play and Scott Erickson providing the color commentary.

UW-Eau Claire Coach Todd Hoffner: Coach Hoffner enters his fourth season with the Blugolds. Hoffner holds a 22-15 career mark. Last season the Blugolds were WIAC co-champions.

UW-La Crosse Coach Larry Terry: Coach Terry is in his 3rd season with the Eagles. Terry owns a 16-12 record at La Crosse and a 41-41-1 overall record as a college head coach.

Up Next: The Blugolds close out regular season play when they host UW-Stevens Point at Carson Park. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM.

La Crosse finishes out the regular season on the road when they travel to Don and Nona Williams Stadium to face UW-Stout. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 PM.

Last Week’s Action: The UW-Eau Claire football team picked apart the UW-Whitewater secondary while holding Warhawk tailback Chad Wurth to his second-lowest rushing output of the season as the Blugolds won a showdown of conference co-leaders 30-23.

The win marked the Blugolds’ sixth-straight victory over the Warhawks and their 10th consecutive victory at Carson Park.

Pinned on their own three-yard line, the Blugolds streaked down the field on an eight-play drive taking just 1:43 when quarterback Nels Fredrickson scrambled into the end zone from two yards out to give Eau Claire an early 7-0 lead.

On its next possession the Blugolds went 64 yards in 1:32 when tailback Brian Mitchell punched in six points from one yard out to increase the lead to 14-0.

Trailing 16-14 heading into the fourth quarter, momentum switched back to the Eau Claire sideline as the Blugolds scored on a seven play, 89-yard drive ending with a Joe Gast two-yard plunge to regain the lead at 22-16. The highlight of the drive was a spectatular 40-yard reception by wide receiver Erik Ferguson.

Two minutes later wide receiver Matt Evensen caught a 28-yard touchdown strike from Fredrickson with 6:24 remaining in regulation to push the Blugold lead to 30-16.

Whitewater cut the lead to 30-23 with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 5:22 left in the game and received the ball back with 2:41 remaining on the clock but turned the ball over on downs after advancing to the Blugold 27 yard line.

Fredrickson had a career day for the Blugolds completing 23-of-34 passes for 366 yards and a touchdown to go along with 60 yards rushing on 15 carries. Ferguson caught seven passes for 102 yards while Jason Foemmel caught five passes for 130 yards. Tight end Brad Newton caught five passes for 64 yards while Evensen finished with four receptions for 52 yards. Gast topped all Blugold ball carriers with 62 yards on 15 carries.

Cornerbacks Derek Sikora and Justin Miller saw heavy action as Whitewater attempted 49 passes on the day. Sikora recorded 13 solo tackles while Miller was credited with nine solo tackles on the day.

...and then they were three: Eau Claire, La Crosse and Stout survived the first weekend of November to remain tied for the conference lead but with two weeks remaining, anything can and usually does happen in the unpredictable WIAC. La Crosse controls its own fate as it host Eau Claire and then closes out the season on the road against Stout. A La Crosse and Stout loss would give Eau Claire sole possession of first place and could set up a match-up against Stevens Point at Carson Park that would mirror last season’s regular season finale between both schools. Stevens Point and Whitewater still factor largely into the title chase as the Warhawks host Stout while the Pointers travel to Eau Claire. Both teams are one win behind the conference co-leaders.

About the Eagles: Picked to finish sixth in WIAC pre-season poll, La Crosse has a chance to win the conference crown outright in the next two weeks as the Eagles face co-conference leaders Eau Claire and Stout. The Eagles enter Saturday’s game as the top-rated offense in the league featuring a balanced offensive attack. With three losses, the Eagles can ill afford a loss if they want to remain in the conference and NCAA playoff race.

The Eagle offense is lead by quarterback Matt Makaryk and tailback Ross Moline. Makaryk ranks second in the league in passing and total offense while Moline ranks fourth in scoring and fifth in rushing and all-purpose yards. Linebacker Adam Schneider leads the league in tackles averaging 11.2 per game while defensive tackle Thaddeus Rego is tied for third in sacks.

Last weekend La Crosse rushed for a season-high 301 yards in a 29-16 victory over River Falls. Ross Moline finished with a season-high 169 yards rushing while Andrew Mocadlo rushed for a season-high 100 yards on eight carries.

The Eagles took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 21-yard pass from Matt Makaryk to Jason Kettenhofen. The Falcons tied the game on a 71-yard fumble return by Lewis Parish. Moline put UW-L back up, 14-7 with 3:33 remaining in the first half, but River Falls’ Adam Bergdahl connected on a 27-yard field goal to make it 14-10 at halftime.

Mocadlo scored his first touchdown of the game on a 40-yard run in the third quarter. Falcons’ quarterback Dustin Vogelgesang made it 21-16 on a 4-yard run with 9:09 left in the game. River Falls’ two-point conversion failed. Mocadlo finished the scoring on a 1-yard run with 6:58 remaining.

UW-L finished with 459 yards of offense while UW-River Falls totaled 282 (269 rushing; 13 passing). Makaryk was 10-of-20 for 158 yards with one touchdown and one interception for UW-L while Vogelgesang finished 1-for-7 for 13 yards with one interception. John Peterlik led the Falcons with 126 yards rushing.

Last Week’s Results: Eau Claire 30, Whitewater 23; La Crosse 29, River Falls 16; Oshkosh 35, Platteville 31; Stout 37, Stevens Point 13.

This Week’s Games: Eau Claire at La Crosse, 11:30 AM; Oshkosh at River Falls, 1:00 PM; Platteville at Stevens Point, 2:00 PM; Stout at Whitewater, 1:00 PM.