Football Defeated Soundly By Eagles

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Posted: Saturday, October 21, 2006

LA CROSSE - The No. 10 ranked UW-La Crosse team had its best all-around offensive game of the year while the UW-Eau Claire football team was unable to answer 21 second-half Eagle points in a 42-14 loss.

The loss drops Eau Claire to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The victory for La Crosse improves its marks to 5-1 and 3-1.

The first quarter saw a lot of punting with the first five possessions of the game resulting in three-and-outs. Eau Claire crossed the 50 but it only got to the La Crosse 41 before punting. On the ensuing Eagle drive the Blugolds missed a golden opportunity. During quarterback John Schumann's first run of the drive he fumbled at the Eagle 13-yard line but recovered it himself. La Crosse marched to the Blugold 42 before connecting on a 42-yard strike to Eric Kettenhofen. Eau Claire blocked the extra point and the score remained 6-0 Eagles going into the second quarter.

La Crosse did not wait as long to score in the second quarter. The ensuing Eau Claire drive after the touchdown stretched from the first quarter to the second and resulted in a three-and-out with a punt from the 26. Mitch Schaeuble (Jr.-Wrightstown) then had his punt blocked by Jon Gartzke, who recovered it at the 11-yard line and took it the rest of the way. Schumann rushed for the two-point conversion, putting La Crosse up 14-0.

After Eau Claire went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Eagles flew down the field in three plays to go up 21-0. Schumann completed a 44-yard pass to Kettenhofen to get to Eau Claire's 42. After a one-yard rush, Schumann again looked deep to Kettenhofen, this time for a 41-yard score.

The Blugolds got to the La Crosse 36 on the next possession before punting. The Eagles then got to their 40, but Tom Dohr (So.-Neenah) forced a Corey Geldernick fumble and recovered at the Eagle 39. Kyle Paulson (So.-Amery) opened up the passing attack in Eagles territory. He found Tony Hull (Jr.-Blaine, MN/Spring Lake Park) for 24 yards to the 15 and then hit Scotty Osborn (Jr.-Fall Creek) for 14 to get one-yard away from the first score of the day. Eddy Kaiser (Sr.-Duluth, MN/East) found paydirt on the next rush. The Blugolds missed the extra point for a 21-6 score.

Another Eagle turnover on the next drive again kept Eau Claire in the game. With La Crosse driving, Jake Siegert (Jr.-Onalaska) picked off a pass at the Blugold 29 and brought it to the Eagle 43. The Eau Claire drive stalled at the 23 with a fourth and 16 upcoming. Paulson passed to Chris Hull (Jr.-Blaine, MN/Spring Lake Park) on fourth down for 17 yards to keep the drive alive. Two passes later Paulson and Chris Hull hooked up again, this time for a six-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed.

The Eagles came out in the second half ready to score. After receiving the kick, they marched 75 yards before Dan Hall punched it in from the one-yard line to make it 28-14 La Crosse.

It remained that way until the fourth. La Crosse started from the Eau Claire 43 after a punt and relied solely on the run as Dan Hall picked up his second score of the day to start the quarter. The Blugolds failed to recover a fumble at the 15-yard line during the drive. The Eagles fumbled two more times in the game, but recovered them both. Both were also in La Crosse territory.

The only Blugold fumble of the day allowed for the final score. Kaiser lost the ball at the Eau Claire 34 and the defense recovered. The next play Eric Donoval brought it 36 yards to add on the final score at 8:31.

The Eagle offense had its most productive game of the year, setting season-highs in rushing yards (229), passing yards (282), and total yards (511). Eau Claire only managed 48 yards on the ground. The air attack gained 189 yards and the total yardage was 237.

Paulson went 20-37 with one score while Kaiser rushed for 27 yards with one touchdown on seve