ST. PAUL –The No. 7-ranked UW-River Falls football team broke a school record for margin of victory with a 75-3 nonconference win at the University of Northwestern Saturday afternoon.
The 72-point win marks the largest margin of victory in UWRF Football history, besting the previous record set during last year's season opener, a 63-0 win at Elmhurst University.
UWRF totaled 560 yards of total offense while limiting Northwestern to 109, including -11 rushing yards and a 2-of-17 conversion rate on third downs. The Falcon defense also caused seven Eagle fumbles, forcing and recovering three.
UWRF jumped out to a 41-3 lead after the first quarter and compiled 300 yards of total offense in the first half alone, taking a 55-3 lead into the locker room at halftime. UWRF added 20 more points in the second half while shutting out the home team in the final three quarters.
Quarterback Kaleb Blahaaccounted for five of UWRF's 11 touchdowns, rushing for a career-high three scores coupled with two passing TDs. Aside from Blaha, eight different Falcons found the back of the end zone, including a fumble recovery touchdown for offensive lineman Matt Patri and a pick-six from Andrew Schumacher.
Backup quarterback Cade Fitzgerald paced the offense with a team-high 121 passing yards and 70 rushing yards while AJ Morrison led the team with 67 receiving yards followed by four catches from Jake Hilton.
Defensively, UWRF tallied five sacks and 14 tackles for loss, led by a pair of sacks from Connor McKenzie.
The Falcons, now 3-0 overall, have a bye next week before opening Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) action on Saturday, Sept. 30 during UWRF Homecoming, hosting UW-Platteville.