Box Score
Box score
MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin Lutheran College
football team suffered a heartbreaking 14-10 loss to the
Benedictine University Eagles on a cold and rainy Saturday
afternoon at Raabe Stadium.
Wisconsin Lutheran jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead by
scoring on two straight possessions after both teams opened the
game by exchanging punts.
Sophomore running back Larry Hairl (Chicago, Ill./Clemente) put
the Warriors up 7-0 on a one-yard touchdown run with 7:11 left on
the first-quarter clock. The drive was keyed by a Jesse Muldrow
(Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) 14-yard half back pass to
sophomore quarterback Josh McCormick (Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago
Lutheran) on a fourth-and-two play from Benedictine's 16 yard
line.
The Warriors' defense forced the Eagles to punt on their ensuing
possession and junior kicker Heikki Luoma (Helsinki, Finland)
capped off an 11-play 65-yard drive by connecting on a 19-yard
field goal attempt to extend WLC's lead to 10-0 after one
quarter.
Neither team was able to do anything with their three
possessions in the second quarter as the score remained 10-0 in
favor of the Warriors at halftime.
As was the theme for most of the game, each team saw its offense
stall in a scoreless third quarter. Benedictine's Eddie Hill
intercepted a McCormick pass with 5:08 left in the third quarter
and the Eagles capitalized by scoring a touchdown on the second
play of the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 10-7.
After failing to do anything with the football on its first
three possessions of the fourth quarter, Wisconsin Lutheran faced a
third-and-three from its own 28 yard line with just under four
minutes to play. BU linebacker Alex Dewey intercepted McCormick's
pass and returned it 26 yards to the end zone to put the Eagles on
top 14-10 with 3:54 remaining in the game.
The Warriors drove 58 yards on their next possession, keyed by a
47-yard pass play to Dominique Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Vincent)
and faced first-and-goal from the Benedictine nine yard line. WLC
was unable to find the end zone on four plays and turned the ball
over on downs to the Eagles.
Wisconsin Lutheran's defense limited Benedictine to just 156
yards of total offense and seven first downs in the game. The
Eagles averaged only 2.5 yards per play on 61 offensive plays.
Sophomore linebacker Nate Rosenberg (Hortonville, Wis./Fox Valley
Lutheran) finished with a game-high 13 tackles. Shem Biebert (Inver
Grove Heights, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) and Kaylan Gaines (Lake
Worth, Fla./American Heritage) each added a sack.
Offensively, Hairl finished with 69 yards on the ground and
Johnson caught three passes for 82 yards. The Warriors finished
with 255 yards of total offense, but went just 1-for-15 on third
down plays.
WLC payed tribute to seniors Nick Boehnen (New Berlin,
Wis./Luther Preparatory), Justin Cromas (Greenfield,
Wis./Greenfield), Rick LaFleur (Random Lake, Wis./Random Lake),
Brandon Lehman (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee), Ben Proeber (Janesville,
Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) and Jake Schweder (McHenry, Ill./East)
prior to kickoff.
Wisconsin Lutheran (3-6, 2-4 NAC) concludes its inaugural season
in the NAC next Saturday by traveling to nearby Watertown, Wis., to
take on Maranatha Baptist Bible College in a noon kickoff at
Maranatha Field.
