MADISON, Wis.–University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater came up short in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Football Championship on Dec. 2.
UW-La Crosse (11-2), ranked No. 4 in the D3football.com poll, dropped a 55-42 decision to No. 1 – and defending national champion – North Central College (Ill.) (13-0) at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. No. 5 UW-Whitewater (11-2) fell to No. 3 Wartburg College (Iowa) (13-0), 31-28, in Waverly, Iowa.
This was the first time since 2016 that the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) had two teams in the national quarterfinals.
UW-La Crosse won the WIAC title and made the program’s 14th NCAA appearance – advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996. The 11 wins were the most since the 1996 campaign (11-2).
UW-Whitewater’s 11 wins marked the 15th time in the last 18 years that it reached double-digits in victories. The Warhawks made their 19th NCAA appearance.
North Central took the opening kickoff and a 7-0 lead on Luke Lehnen’s 17-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy with 13:17 left the first quarter. Dom Scalera’s extra-point made it 7-0.
UW-La Crosse responded on its opening possession, going 72 yards in six plays and 2:32 with Keyser Helterbrand‘s 27-yard touchdown run with 10:38 remaining. Michael Stack’s extra-point tied the game. Helterbrand hit Jack Studer with two catches for 33 yards on the drive.
UW-La Crosse drove to the North Central 17-yard line when Gabe Lynch ran to the goal line, but Julian Bell forced a fumble with the ball going out of the end-zone for a touch back. On the next play from scrimmage, Sacco scored on an 80-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 14-7 lead with 3:27 left in the first quarter.
North Central took a 21-7 lead on its next drive, going 50 yards in six plays and 2:19 as Charles Coleman scored on a five-yard touchdown run with 12:46 remaining in the second quarter. The Cardinals extended their lead to 28-7 on Coleman’s one-yard touchdown run with 4:11 left.
The Eagles quickly cut the deficit to 28-14 on the next play from scrimmage as Helterbrand threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Studer with 3:57 remaining. Hardy’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Joey Lombardi with :49 left gave the Cardinals a 35-14 halftime lead.
The Eagles took the second half kickoff and drove 69 yards in 10 plays and 5:17 to cut the lead to 35-21 on Lynch’s 11-yard touchdown run with 9:43 remaining. The Cardinals responded on their first drive of the third quarter with Lehnen throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Lombardi with 4:44 left to extend the lead to 41-21. Helterbrand’s one-yard touchdown with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter cut the lead to 41-28.
Helterbrand scored on a two-yard run to cut the lead to 41-35 with 11:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals regained a 13-point lead on their next drive with Lehnen scoring on a four-yard run with 5:02 left to make it 48-35.
UW-La Crosse went six plays for 42 yards in 1:15 with Helterbrand throwing a two-yard touchdown pass to Studer with :32 remaining. UW-La Crosse’s onside kick was returned 45-yards for a touchdown by Hardy to provide the final scoring.
UWL finished with 535 yards, including 234 rushing and 301 passing. The Eagles totaled 30 first downs and won the time of possession, 31:47 to 28:13.
Helterbrand accounted for five touchdowns in the contest, finishing 21-of-32 passing for 301 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Helterbrand set a single-season school record with 2,981 passing yards, breaking the mark of 2,804 yards by Evan Lewandowski in 2019.
Studer finished with 204 receiving yards on 10 catches with two touchdowns to become UW-La Crosse’s single-season leader with 1,567 receiving yards.
North Central (Ill.) totaled 509 yards with 323 rushing and 186 passing. The Cardinals finished with 23 first downs and were four-of-four in the red-zone.
Jack Kelly, Tanner Newlin, Aaron Schmitz and Austin Knade led UW-La Crosse with seven tackles each.
After receiving the opening kickoff, it took just three plays for UW-Whitewater to get on the board as Tamir Thomas hauled in a pass for a 69-yard score. A Jeff Isotalo-McGuire kick extra point made it 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
UW-Whitewater’s defense held Wartburg to a field goal on its first drive of the game before the teams traded punts.
The Warhawks went 84 yards on nine plays bolstered by a 60-yard Alec Ogden to Tommy Coates connection. Thomas punched it in from a yard out and the extra point made it 14-3 after one quarter.
On Wartburg’s opening possession of the second quarter, Ethan Gallagher jumped the passing lane for an interception. Thomas took the handoff up the middle for 26 yards to open the drive. After a pair of short gains on the ground, Ogden found Coates in the endzone for a five-yard touchdown. Isotalo-McGuire split the uprights on the point after for a 21-3 UW-Whitewater lead less three minutes into the second quarter.
Wartburg responded in its next drive, marching 71-yards on eight plays to narrow the gap to 21-10. The Knights then went 42 yards in nine plays to pull within four, 21-17, with just under two minutes to go until the intermission.
The Knights claimed the lead in their first drive of the second half. A 13-play, 82-yard drive was capped on a one-yard run. The extra point gave Wartburg a 24-21 advantage.
UW-Whitewater took over at their own 39 with 11:25 remaining and had seven consecutive plays with gains of five or more yards, including a 20-yard reception by Zach Sherman. Ogden found Tommy Coates from seven yards out to reclaim the lead for the Warhawks, 28-24, with eight minutes to go.
Wartburg had the ball on its own 22-yard line with 3:56 remaining and used 11 plays for a 31-28 lead when Clasen hauled in a seven-yard touchdown reception with 51.4 seconds on the clock.
UW-Whitewater’s final drive started at their own 31, but an interception on the fourth play ended the drive.
Ogden was 26-of-39 for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Coates was the top target with nine catches for 88 yards and a pair of scores.
Antonietti led UW-Whitewater with 10 tackles, while Gallagher added nine with an interception.
2023-12-03 02:49:32
#UWLa #Crosse #UWWhitewater #Fall #NCAA #Football #Quarterfinals
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