EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – With both teams looking for their first win of the season today, the UW-Eau Claire football team was able to come away with the win over UW-River Falls, defeating the Falcons 13-6 at Carson Park.
In the opening half, neither team could get much going. After 10 possessions, River Falls was the first to try to get points on the board but missed a 29-yard field goal with 2:38 left in the opening half.
The Blugolds then took the ball 80 yards and scored a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining as Clint Larsen (So.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) ended the 12-play drive with a two yard run. A missed extra point left the score 6-0 in favor of Eau Claire at halftime.
The third quarter started with a long drive from the Blugolds but it ended with a missed field goal from 22 yards out. River Falls got the ball back but after 5:16, turned it back over to the Blugolds with just over a minute left in the quarter.
Eau Claire had the ball for five minutes after that but turned the ball over on downs and the Falcons scored on the following drive. They used 1:53 with seven plays, traveling 76 yards, to get to the end zone, and tied the game 6-6. A missed extra point left the score tied.
On the very next drive, the Blugolds were able to find the end zone once again, with Larsen ending the drive with a one yard run. This time the extra point was good and the Blugolds took a 13-6 lead, which they held to the end.
Larsen ended the game with 120 yards rushing on 28 carries while he also finished with three catches for 17 yards. Mark Munger (Jr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) went 20-for-29 passing with 176 yards while Alex Plaster (Sr.-Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) led the team with four catches for 46 yards.
The Blugolds finished the game with 313 yards of offense (137 rushing, 176 yards passing) while the Falcons had 371 total yards (68 rushing, 303 passing).
On defense, Cody Taubman (So.-New Richmond, Wis.) led the Blugolds with eight tackles while he broke up two passes. Sean Graham (Sr.-Hales Corners, Wis./Whitnall) finished with one sack while the Blugolds combined for six tackles for loss.
Eau Claire is now 1-6 on the season and 1-3 in conference play while River Falls drops to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in the WIAC.
Next Saturday the Blugolds will be at UW-Stout for a conference game beginning at 1 p.m.
Below Photos by Chico LaBarbera - http://chico.zenfolio.com/p141188161
-KM-