UW-La Crosse 30, UW-Oshkosh 24 (ot)

Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team earned a 30-24 overtime victory over UW-Oshkosh Saturday night at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium. The Eagles improve to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the WIAC while the Titans fall to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the league. It is UW-L's 25th win the last 26 meetings with UW-Oshkosh.

UW-Oshkosh entered the game ranked 15th on D3football.com and 23rd on the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Poll.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff and went 70 yards on four plays to lead 7-0 as Ben Hertrampf scored on a 28-yard run with 13:26 left in the first quarter. After forcing a UW-Oshkosh punt after three offensive plays, UW-L went 48 yards on 14 plays to lead 10-0 on Justin Huinker's 37-yard field goal.

UW-Oshkosh came right back and scored on four plays to cut the deficit to 10-7. Nata Wara hit Cory Wipperfurth with a 42-yard touchdown pass with 3:04 left in the first quarter. UW-L regained a 10-point lead with :43 remaining in the second quarter on Hertrampf's one-yard run. The Eagles led 17-7 at halftime.

Mike Butterfield gave UW-L a 24-7 lead with 6:35 left in the third quarter on an eight-yard run, but UW-Oshkosh scored 17 straight points to force overtime. The Titans cut the lead to 24-10 on Nate Becker's 32-yard field on the final play of the third period. Jordan Mortenson scored on a one-yard pass from Wara with 7:47 remaining to make it 24-17 and the Titans tied the game after the only turnover of the game. UW-L fumbled on a punt return with 4:10 remaining and UW-Oshkosh's Charlie Weissman scored on a one-yard run with 2:25 left.

The Eagles drove to the Titans' two-yard line on the final drive of regulation, but Huinker's 19-yard field goal was blocked on the final play of regulation.

UW-Oshkosh started on offense in overtime, but Becker's 34-yard field goal was missed. Hertrampf rushed for minus two yards on UW-L's first offensive play of the overtime session, but UW-Oshkosh was called for interference on second down to give the Eagles a first down at the Titans' 12-yard line. Hertrampf then scored on the next play to give UW-L its first overtime win since a 49-47 triple overtime victory at UW-River Falls in 2009. UW-L is now 7-5 all-time in overtime games.

UW-L finished with a season-high 479 yards of offense, including 315 rushing and 164 passing. The 315 yards rushing on 60 attempts is also a season-high.

Hertrampf had 182 yards rushing on 31 carries and three touchdowns Saturday. Butterfield finished with 71 yards rushing on 13 attempts and a touchdown. He was also 14-of-27 passing for 164 yards.

Tony Bilderback led UW-L with five catches for 44 yards while Nate Ward had three receptions for a game-high 67 yards.

UW-L had 28 first downs and won the time of possession, 38:46 to 21:14.

UW-Oshkosh totaled 297 yards on offense, including 162 rushing and 135 passing. The Titans were held to 13 first downs. Wara was 15-of-24 passing for 135 yards and two touchdowns while Weissman had 14 carries for 124 yards and one touchdown.

Justin Budiac had five catches for 20 yards while Garrie Fox finished with four for 47 yards. Wipperfurth had two catches for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Mitch Hawkins led the UW-L defense with seven tackles while Derek Dreher, Michael Balduzzi and Andrew Walsh each had five tackles. Balduzzi also recorded one quarterback sack.

UW-L returns to action Saturday, November 5 hosting UW-River Falls at 1 p.m. in the Eagles' home finale.