UW-River Falls defeated UW-Eau Claire 59-22 on Saturday afternoon at Ramer Field in River Falls.
The Falcons trailed 14-10 in the second quarter before Peter McDevitt connected with Ben Wesolowski for a 16-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining in the first half, giving River Falls a 17-14 lead at the break.
River Falls extended its lead early in the third quarter when Taylor Sussner returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing Eau Claire possession, Jared Schultz intercepted Blugold quarterback Ayden Helder, setting up Cade Fitzgerald's two-yard rushing touchdown to push the lead to 31-14. McDevitt then connected with Austin Rush for a 42-yard touchdown, increasing the advantage to 38-14.
Eau Claire answered late in the third quarter, but the Falcons added three more scores in the fourth. Fitzgerald threw touchdown passes to Jaylen Johnson and Drew Kuempel, each the first touchdown of their careers, before Frank Daniels capped the scoring with a five-yard rushing touchdown.
McDevitt completed 15 of 26 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Rush led the receivers with 10 catches for a career-high 149 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Figgins kicked a career-long 47-yard field goal, tying for the second-longest in program history, and made all eight of his extra-point tries. Levi Bolstad recorded four sacks, tying the WIAC and school single-game records.
The win improved River Falls to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in WIAC play. The Falcons limited Eau Claire to 256 total yards and forced three interceptions. River Falls stays home to face UW-Stout Polytechnic on Saturday, Oct. 31, with kickoff at 1 p.m. at Ramer Field.
