The University of Wisconsin-River Falls homecoming crowd, which was announced as 3,115 people, was quickly quieted in the Falcons’ Saturday afternoon game against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as the Eagles thrashed UWRF in a 45-23 victory.

Going into the game, the Falcons had a 3-0 record, which was the best start to a season for UWRF since 1996. Their victories included blowouts against Elmhurst University on Sept. 4 and Northwestern on Sept. 18, a game in which the Falcons scored a school-record 71 points.

Through the first three games of the season, the Falcons’ offense had been dynamic and demonstrated big-play ability. However, with a matchup against the UW-La Crosse Eagles, a team that came into the game with a 2-1 record ranked as the 20th best team in the country, UWRF had its hands full.

The Eagles got the first possession of the game and wasted little time getting on the board. On third and seven with 14:22 remaining in the first quarter, UW-La Crosse running back Joey Stutzman broke loose on a 60-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead following a successful PAT.

The first possession for the Falcons was short and unsuccessful, as they went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles. UW-La Crosse took over and began driving down the field. The drive was capped off by a three-yard play-action touchdown pass by junior quarterback Jakob Parks to gives the Eagles a 14-0 lead.

The Falcons’ defense continued to struggle to begin the second quarter. Another Eagles possession led to another touchdown. This time it was a 13-yard touchdown pass by Parks to take a 210 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

The Eagles were the strongest, most athletic team that the Falcons had seen up until that point in the year, and head coach Matt Walker’s team struggled to adapt to that level of play. The Falcons got on the board with 10 minutes remaining in the first half when senior quarterback Kole Hinrichsen connected with junior wide receiver Andy Groebner on a 23-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7.

Both teams scored another touchdown in the remaining minutes of the second quarter that sent the Eagles to the locker room with a 28-14 halftime lead. Despite a tough first half on the defensive side of the ball, the Falcons were only down two possessions and were set to receive the second-half kickoff with a chance to make it a one-score game.

However, the UWRF offense stalled out early in the drive and gave the ball back to UW-La Crosse. The Eagles subsequently scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Parks to Jake Simuncak to make it a 35-14 lead for the Eagles.

The Falcons’ deficit was too much to overcome, as the final score was a 45-23 victory for UW-La Crosse. The loss moves the Falcons’ record to 3-1 for the season. After the game, Walker reflected on the first loss of the season.

“It was kind of a team loss, we didn’t play great in any phase of the football,” Walker said. “We played mediocre and the problem was that we got off to a bad start and then we were playing uphill the whole time.”

Every week, the Falcons have a game plan crafted to what they believe are their team’s strengths and the opponent’s weaknesses. However, those game plans aren’t designed for an early 21-0 deficit. When trailing by three scores in the first half, a portion of that game plan becomes irrelevant. Walker spoke about that experience.

“It was one of those cases of coming off some game plan a little early when you’re that far behind in the first half,” Walker said. “When some things don’t go your way, it can get ugly. That’s a good team and they played well. They took advantage of where we made mistakes. It just wasn’t a great day for us.”

Perhaps the biggest difference in the game was the efficiency for each team on the most important downs of the game – third and fourth down situations. On Saturday, UW-La Crosse converted 45% of its third downs compared to UWRF’s 35%. On fourth down, the Eagles were 1-1 compared to the Falcons’ two conversions on seven attempts.

“Those (fourth downs) were big,” Walker said. “I haven’t looked at the numbers yet, but I have to assume that our third and fourth down percentage conversion rate was low and theirs was high. It’s big deal, especially with as many fourth downs as we had. We’ve had insanely high conversion rates our first three games, they just make everything harder – welcome to league play, right?”

Walker’s league play comment is regarding the first game in WIAC play of the year. The WIAC is known throughout the country as one of the toughest – if not the toughest – conferences in the United States for Division 3 college football. There are regularly four WIAC teams ranked in the top 25 nationally. Walker spoke about the level of competition in the WIAC.

“I tell people you can’t explain it,” Walker said. “Even the people that think they know how good this league is, don’t understand how good this league is. It’s scholarship football without athletic scholarships. Every yard becomes hard on both sides of the ball and we saw it today.”

Next week, the Falcons play on the road against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. That’s another WIAC game that will likely be played with the same intensity as the matchup against UW-La Crosse. Walker talked about preparation for that contest.

“We’ll rally and fight man, this is the best crew I’ve ever had with leadership and attitude,” Walker said. “We will get ready to go for next Saturday. I promise.”

The next matchup is against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday, Oct. 9. That game is slated to get underway at 2 p.m.

Senior UWRF wide receiver Alex Traxler breaks a tackle and scans his route as he goes sprinting down the field. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Senior quarterback for the UWRF Falcons Kole Hinrichsen unleashes a pass deep down the sideline during the 2021 UWRF homecoming football game against UW-La Crosse.Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Larry McKenzie standing on the sideline at Ramer Field on Saturday, Oct. 2, as he is honored as one of the six 2021 UWRF Athletic Hall of Fame inductees. McKenzie was named as a positive contributor to UWRF athletics. Photo by Reagan Hoverman