Pioneers upset No. 14 UW-River Falls on Homecoming

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team upset No. 14 nationally ranked UW-River Falls 21-14 Saturday afternoon at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. The Homecoming victory marks the second time the Pioneers have upset a Top 15 team this season, a first for the program since 2004. 

The thrilling victory had fans on the edge of their seats all the way to the very end as UW-River Falls put together a 13-play, 77-yard drive with less than five minutes left in the game, but a huge stop on fourth down at the Pioneers' 11 yard line left UW-Platteville's 21-14 lead intact. Unable to convert on third down and one, the Pioneers were forced to punt with 00:39 on the clock. The Falcons achieved one final first down, but three failed pass attempts and a no-gain rush up the middle brought the offense back out to take a knee and celebrate the win.  

The Pioneers (3-3, 2-1) held the Falcons (4-2, 2-1) to 333 yards total offense after entering the game averaging 535 yards per game. UW-River Falls rushed for 206 of the 333 total yards. UW-Platteville totaled 288 yards. 

The day was filled with huge defensive stops as the Pioneers held the Falcons to 30% (6-for-20) on third down conversions.  UW-Platteville was able to stall UW-River Falls' blistering offense when needed and the Pioneers used the time of possession advantage of 34:02-25:58. Most noticeably, holding possession for nearly 19 minutes in the first half. 

Michael Priami and Braeden Katcher combined for 176 passing yards. Priami was 8-of-12 for 108 yards while Katcher completed 8-of-18 for 68 yards and one touchdown, in addition to rushing in a second.  

Will Lawrence rushed for 88 yards off 30 carries, rushing in one touchdown. Katcher hit Lawrence for a second touchdown in the game. 

Kaleb Blaha led the Falcons offense and completed 16-of-29 passes for 127 yards with one interception and a touchdown. Blaha added 128 rushing yards off 37 carries and a touchdown.

Sam Smith tallied 20 tackles, Sean McMillan had a catalyst interception and 23-yard return and Justin Blazek stacked up 14 tackles, including a sack for a loss of 11 yards. 

Andrew Schweigert was 3-for-3 on PATs, tallying  two touchbacks on four kick offs with another one tackled inside the 15. Schweigert averaged 35 yards per punt on seven kicks with a long of 46, putting four inside the 20 yard line. 

 Aaron Borgerding led the Falcons with 15 tackles on the day.

After Borgerding tallied three tackles in the first drive of the game, UW-River Falls mounted a 13-play, 75 yards drive for a touchdown to take its only lead of the game, 7-0 with seven minutes left in the first quarter. 

The teams exchanged punts and Priami found Ben Wilson for a 50 yard completion to the Falcons' seven yard line. Katcher then came into the game and rushed up the middle seven yards for a touchdown with 13 minutes left in the half.  Two punts later, McMillan intercepted Blaha and returned it 23 yards to the Pioneers' seven yard line. On second and goal, Lawrence rushed up the middle for another seven-yard touchdown and the 14-7 lead with 7:46 left in the second quarter.

The Falcons had one more chance to even the score before the half, rattling off six plays in 1:20, but another huge stop on third down with nine yards to go kept the adrenaline from the two second quarter touchdowns flowing as the teams went into the break. 

The defense kept the momentum going into the second half and held the Falcons to just 15 yards off nine plays. The Pioneers took over with 10:09 left in the third quarter and on third and 10, Katcher found Jimmy Durocher for a 28 yard reception to put the ball on the UW-River Falls 22 yard-line. Katcher eventually hit Lawrence for a nine-yard completion to extend the lead to 21-7. 

After the quarter break, UW-River Falls marched 87 yards in 19 plays to narrow the score to 21-14 with 11:39 on the clock. 

Although the Pioneers were unable to score on their next drive, they did eat seven minutes of the clock. The Falcons' second to last drive ended by a huge McMillian quarterback hurry on fourth and six from the UW-Platteville 11 yard line and forced a turnover on downs with 1:12 remaining in the game. 

The Pioneers' final stop of the day five plays later marked the end of another thrilling upset this season. 

Saturday's win was the Pioneers' fourth contest against a nationally ranked opponent this season. It is also the first time since 2004 where UW-Platteville has defeated two Top 15 ranked teams in a regular season. In 2004, the Pioneers defeated No. 13 UW-Whitewater 7-6 and No. 6 UW-Eau Claire 20-17. The Pioneers were on the Blugold's one yard line and trailed 17-14. UW-Platteville went for it on fourth down with Damian Droessler rushing in the winning touchdown on the last play of the game. Coincidently, head coach Ryan Munz was a sophomore on the Pioneers squad that very season. 

Saturday was only the second time in over 20 Homecoming games where the Pioneers played a nationally ranked team. In the other occurrence, UW-Platteville upset No. 16 UW-La Crosse 26-13 in 2009. 

UW-Platteville will look to keep the momentum going into next week as the Pioneers return to Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. for the annual George Chryst Memorial Bowl against No. 3 UW-Whitewater. The game is named in memory of the late UW-Platteville head football coach, George Chryst.