By Justin Dade - Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team fell 30-7 to UW-River Falls on Saturday for Homecoming at Carson Park to begin conference play.
Box Score | UWEC Photos | La Barbera Photos
In their second Homecoming meeting at UW-Eau Claire in three years, the Blugold offense struggled against a strong UW-River Falls defense finishing the game with 193 total yards.
After a scoreless first quarter in a defensive battle, the Falcons utilized a 35-yard pass from quarterback Travon Hearns to Austin Juhl to help set up a four-yard touchdown run by Hearns to give UW-River Falls a 6-0 lead after the extra point was blocked by Jordan Wollin (Jr. – Eagan MN).
Later in the half, the Falcons would add to their lead on a Michael Diggins 2-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0 with 6:49 left in the first half.
After a Blugold fumble on the first play of their next drive, UW-River Falls would turn the mistake into points a few plays later by tacking on a 20-yard field goal from Angel Bautista to make it 16-0.
The Blugolds began the game 0-6 on third down, but the offense finally got the spark they needed with about a minute left in the first half. Quarterback JT DenHartog (Jr. – Hopkins, MN) took off running on third-down-and-long situation and found plenty of room in front of him outrunning the Falcon defense for a 73-yard touchdown run to cut into the Falcons' lead. DenHartog's sprint to the pylon would be his fifth rushing touchdown of the season.
Despite the offensive struggles in the first half converting just one third down, UW-Eau Claire would have the momentum heading into the locker room trailing by just nine.
After a quick third quarter featuring just three total drives between the two teams, the Falcons would extend their lead to 23-7 on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Hearns to Diggins on the first play of the fourth quarter.
UW-River Falls would tack on one more touchdown from Diggins late in the fourth quarter to send it to the final score of 30-7.
The Falcons dominated time of possession in this game by running the ball very effectively in the second half, nearly doubling the Blugolds in time of possession (39:06 to 20.54). All but five of the Blugolds' 90 total rushing yards were credited to DenHartog with 73 of those coming on one play. Leading the team on defense was inside linebacker Kaeleb Stangler (Sr. - Rochester, MN) with eight total tackles.
The Blugolds (1-3, 0-1) will look to get their first road win of the season next week as they travel to UW-La Crosse to take on the Eagles. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m. on October 7 at Roger Harring Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
