The UW-La Crosse football team lost their third straight game Saturday afternoon as they faced off against UW-Stevens Point. With the loss, their record now drops to 5-3 and their conference record has dropped to 2-3.

La Crosse had opportunities early in the game to put points on the board, but squandered them by failing to convert on fourth down from their opponent’s one-yard line, and missing a field goal after their defense made a big play to give them the ball back just one play later. Stevens Point proceeded to methodically drive down the field on their possession after the Eagles’ missed field goal attempt, and made the most of it, kicking a field goal and making it with five minutes left in the first.

The Eagles got to work on their next drive, taking the ball all the way down to the Pointers’ 16-yard line. From there, the Yaeggi to Oxton connection that was the highlight of La Crosse’s offense went to work. Off a good pass from Tarek Yaeggi, Joel Oxton was able to turn upfield and stretching out for the pylon, gave UW-L six points and their first lead of the day.

The second quarter saw Joel Oxton score again on an early connection from Yaeggi. Bringing down a beautiful grab on the side of the endzone, Oxton brought his touchdown total on the day to two, and would later see a total of 170 yards receiving on 13 receptions. Extending their lead to 14-3, things were looking good for the Eagles.

Stevens Point answered quickly though, once again methodically moving the ball down the field and finishing it off with a lob over the middle from Kyle Henzel to an open Logan Taylor in the endzone for a touchdown.

Drives by both teams stalled out at the end of the first half, although La Crosse had a big time opportunity to score and increase their lead to 17-10 or 21-10 but luck was not in their favor. They had showed a strong offensive presence in the final two minutes, driving all the way down to the Pointers’ 19-yard line. Unfortunately, on third down from this spot, Yaeggi threw an interception, killing a possession that showed much promise.

UW-Stevens Point absolutely owned the second half of the game, as UW-La Crosse floundered and saw their first half lead fly away. It wasn’t a problem with moving the ball, as both teams had nearly identical yardage and first down totals. It was more of a problem with turning possessions into points and stalling out in opponent territory.

Coverage breakdowns in the Eagle defensive backfield were another huge reason the Pointers took over. Moving away from their slow, methodical first half drives, Stevens Point won this game on big plays they made down the field in the second half. In the third quarter, Kyle Larson completed long touchdown passes of 27 and 82 yards to wide open targets down the field, unable to be stopped by Eagle defenders.

Still faltering as they entered the fourth, the Eagles would give up two more passing touchdowns before the day ended. In total, they gave up 387 yards of passing and 5 touchdowns to Stevens Point on the day, making it a very rough day for UW-L’s pass coverage unit.

La Crosse would finally get on the board again with eight minutes left in the fourth, off a 22 yard pass from Ben Schramski to Nick Holcomb. Converting the two-point attempt they made it a 38-22 game but their chances of winning were virtually gone by this point. From there, both teams had drives stall out, making the final score 38-22 in favor of Stevens Point.

La Crosse’s next game is November 5th at 2pm against UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh. You can see them in home action again in their final regular season game in La Crosse against UW-Platteville on November 12th.