Big Second Half Keys UW-River Falls Victory

UW-River Falls broke open a tight contest by scoring 34 of the game's final 40 points to defeat UW-Oshkosh 48-20 on  Saturday (Oct. 21) at Ramer Field.

The Falcons (4-3, 3-2 WIAC) went into halftime with a 14-7 lead, but that advantage was quickly erased on the opening kickoff of the second half when UW-Oshkosh linebacker Lucas Jachthuber returned a UW-River Falls fumble 26 yards for a touchdown. UW-River Falls regrouped on its next offensive series, however, by scoring on its first play, a 46-yard run from running back Mark Shepherdson. The score gave the Falcons a 21-14 lead, a lead that was never seriously threatened during the remainder of the game.

Shepherdson had two other touchdowns on the afternoon, a 13-yard pass from quarterback Cory Mueller in the second quarter and a four-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Mueller led the Falcons' wishbone attack with 143 rushing yards, while running backs Nick Scribner and Rob Ohman added 132 and 116, respectively.  Mueller also completed three of seven passes for 42 yards and two scores.  During the last three games UW-River Falls has totaled 48 points and 546 rushing yards against UW-Oshkosh, 65 points and 622 rushing yards against UW-Eau Claire and 49 points and 401 rushing yards against UW-Stevens Point.

UW-Oshkosh (2-5, 1-4) totaled 336 yards against UW-River Falls, including 298 via the arm of quarterback Alan Beversdorf.  The Titans' offensive effort was hampered by four turnovers, three of which were in UW-River Falls territory. Linebacker Ryan Thompson led the Titans' defense with 10 tackles, including nine solo.