#1 UW-Whitewater 17, UW-La Crosse 3

Whitewater, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team closed its 2011 season with a 17-3 loss at top-ranked UW-Whitewater Saturday afternoon at Perkins Stadium. UW-L ends its season at 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the WIAC while UW-Whitewater improves to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference. The Warhawks, who won their 40th consecutive game Saturday, clinched their seventh straight WIAC title last weekend.

After each team punted twice to start the game, UW-Whitewater took a 3-0 lead with 1:36 left in the first quarter on Eric Kindler's 23-yard field goal. The Warhawks went 61 yards on 11 plays in 4:52.  UW-L drove to the UW-Whitewater 33-yard line with 5:19 remaining in the second quarter, but were forced to turn the ball over on downs. The Warhawks then used eight plays to go 73 yards in 4:19 to lead 10-0 as Matt Blanchard threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Luke Menzel with 1:00 left in the half.  UW-Whitewater led 10-0 at halftime.

UW-L punted on its first possession of the second half and UW-Whitewater led 17-0 after Levell Coppage scored on a six-yard run with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Warhawks went 74 yards on nine plays in 3:30.

The Eagles got on the scoreboard with 13:06 left in the fourth quarter on Justin Huinker's 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-3. UW-L went 73 yards on 13 plays in 4:02.

UW-L finished with 182 yards of offense, including 69 rushing and 113 passing. Ben Hertrampf had 17 carries for 39 yards while Kevin Lindh finished with four attempts for 20 yards. Andy Sires was 15-of-22 passing for 113 yards with an interception. Tony Bilderback led the Eagles with five catches for 35 yards.

The team had 12 first downs and were five-of-13 on third-down. Christian Hallingstad, the WIAC's leading punter, averaged 45.6 yards on six punts Saturday.

UW-Whitewater, ranked first on the D3hoops.com and in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top-25 Poll, totaled 372 yards of offense, including 103 rushing and 269 passing. Coppage had 68 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown while Blanchard was 26-of-34 for 269 yards and one touchdown. Tyler Huber had 10 catches for 123 yards.

The Warhawks had 20 first downs in the game and finished eight-of-14 on third-down.

UW-Whitewater recorded its ninth straight win over UW-L Saturday, including two this season. The Warhawks earned a 26-7 victory in La Crosse September 3 in a non-conference contest.

Jake Meckstroth led UW-L's defense with 16 tackles (nine unassisted) while Jack Leahy had 12 tackles (eight unassisted). Derek Dreher totaled 11 tackles.

Greg Arnold led UW-Whitewater with 10 tackles.