UW-Platteville Begins WIAC Play with 17-14 Win Over UW-La Crosse

With a decisive 351 to 259 advantage in total offense, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team began WIAC play with a 17-14 win over the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Saturday.

Pioneer quarterbacks sophomore Bryce Corrigan and junior Nick Anderson combined to go 22 for 36 for 231 yards and two touchdowns in the win. The favorite target for Corrigan and Anderson was junior Jeff Bracken, who had 10 catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, senior Tommy Magna had nine tackles to lead UW-Platteville and eight Pioneers were involved with tackles for loss.

The UW-Platteville (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) defense wrecked havoc throughout the contest, recording five sacks and held the Eagles to under 200 yards of total offense until the final drive of the game. UW-Platteville earned its third straight victory over UW-La Crosse for the first time since winning three consecutive meetings from 1969-71.

UW-La Crosse (0-3, 0-1 WIAC) on its first play from scrimmage on the afternoon set an omen for the day ahead when Pioneers' senior defensive back Ryan McWethy picked off an Andy Sires pass.

The Pioneers converted on the turnover and went ahead 7-0 when Corrigan connected with Bracken for a 65-yard touchdown strike.  The reception by Bracken is the longest since a 70-yard reception by Aunton Terry versus Buena Vista on September 6, 2008. Furthermore, it is the longest reception against a WIAC foe since an 89-yard catch by Joe Danielson against UW-Whitewater on October 21, 2006.

The game remained 7-0 in favor of the Pioneers until the Eagles' Derek Dreher returned UW-Platteville fumble 55-yards for a touchdown to tie the game with 12:24 left in the first half. The game did not remain tied for long. Later in the quarter, quarterback Anderson engineered a five play, 61-yard drive that culminated with a five-yard touchdown run by junior Lee Vlasak to put UW-Platteville up by a 14-7 margin. In the drive, Anderson completed a 22-yard pass to Bracken and a 17-yard pass to Vlasak to set the stage for the go-ahead touchdown.

On the first drive of the second half, the Pioneer defense kept UW-La Crosse off the scoreboard with two sacks and Justin Huinker missed a 40-yard field goal. The Eagles held the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the third quarter with no points to show for it as the Pioneer defense limited them to just 74 yards on 21 plays.

Energized by the strong showing of its defensive teammates and the support of numerous UW-Platteville football alumni in attendance, the Pioneers stretched its lead to 17-7 in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard field goal by sophomore Zach Litchfield. In the drive to set up the field goal, the Pioneers converted on a 3rd and 1 when Vlasak rushed for seven yards. UW-Platteville moved into field goal range, following a UW-La Crosse timeout, when Corrigan completed a 10-yard completion to Bracken to the UW-La Crosse 25.

Despite a touchdown, later in the quarter, the Pioneers' recovered an onside kick to preserve the win for UW-Platteville.

Next, the Pioneers will face No. 1 UW-Whitewater in the annual George Chryst Bowl at Perkins Stadium at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WGLR (1590 AM) and a tape-delayed broadcast of the game will appear on Fox Wisconsin and Fox Sports North on Tuesday, October 4th at 7 p.m.