The No. 15-ranked UW-River Falls football team rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat UW-Stout 35-30 on Saturday afternoon at Smith Stadium at Ramer Field in River Falls.
River Falls opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown pass from Cade Fitzgerald to Ben Wesolowski, but Stout answered and then scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half, both times on short fields after interceptions, to build a 24-7 halftime lead.
The Falcons' comeback ran through Trevor Asher, who scored on runs of four yards and two yards in the third quarter to cut the margin to 24-21, then added a five-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to give River Falls its first lead since the opening quarter.
Moments later, Jared Schultz intercepted a pass and returned it 24 yards to the Stout 19-yard line, and TJ Washtock Jr. scored on a seven-yard run two plays after that to make it 35-24. Stout added a touchdown with 51 seconds remaining, but River Falls secured the ball after the onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.
Asher finished with 90 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries. Fitzgerald completed 18 of 31 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown, and Austin Rush caught eight passes for 97 yards. Schultz led the defense with 10 tackles and an interception.
River Falls improves to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the WIAC. The Falcons play next on Saturday, Nov. 7, at UW-La Crosse.
