Scott Burnoski caught two of his school-record tying 13 passes for second-half touchdowns as the nationally ranked UW-La Crosse football team held on to defeat upset-minded UW-Oshkosh, 28-21, on Saturday (Oct. 9) at Titan Stadium. UW-La Crosse, playing its 800th game in school history, entered the contest as the third-ranked team in the NCAA Division III by D3Football.com.

Burnoski, UW-La Crosse's career leader in both pass receptions (152) and pass receiving yardage (2,424), pulled the Eagles (3-1/2-0 WIAC) to within 14-13 of the Titans (3-2/0-2 WIAC) on his four-yard touchdown catch from Steve Tennies at the 5:39 mark of the third quarter. Two possessions later, Burnoski gave UW-La Crosse a 20-14 lead when he grabbed a six-yard touchdown pass from Tennies at the 14:22 mark of the fourth period.

UW-La Crosse, which has won its last 19 meetings with UW-Oshkosh, increased its advantage to 28-14 on Corey Geldernick's 13-yard touchdown run and Jedediah Jensen's extra point kick at the 8:44 mark of the fourth quarter. The Eagles went 80 yards in six plays for the touchdown, with Geldernick rushing four times for 54 yards.

Refusing to quit despite a 14-point deficit with five minutes to play, UW-Oshkosh took the football after a 25-yard punt by Jensen and marched 36 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. The Titans converted a pair of fourth down plays on the drive and made the score 28-21 on Nick Wara's (Sr. • Oshkosh) three-yard touchdown run and Lucas Raschke's (Fr. • Clintonville) extra point kick with 2:26 remaining.

UW-La Crosse recovered UW-Oshkosh's on-side kick following the score, but was forced to punt with one minute left in the game. The Titans took the football on their own 25-yard line after an 11-yard punt by Jensen and paraded to the Eagles' 32-yard line as time expired. UW-Oshkosh operated 11 plays on its potential game-tying drive, including incomplete passes by Wara to end zone on the last two plays of the contest.

The first quarter of the 57th meeting between UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh went scoreless as the two teams combined for six punts, including 58 and 73-yard boots by the Titans' Tom Roszak (So. • Greenfield). The two combatants engineered 21 points in the second quarter, with UW-La Crosse taking a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Matt Pagel and an extra point kick by Jensen at the 8:23 mark of the period.

UW-Oshkosh took UW-La Crosse's ensuing kickoff and marched 74 yards in nine plays to tie the game at 7-7. The Titans evened the score on Wara's fourth down, 31-yard touchdown pass to Joe Patek (Fr. • Cedarburg) and Raschke's extra point kick at the 4:47 mark of the frame. UW-La Crosse fumbled on its next possession and the miscue resulted in UW-Oshkosh taking a 14-7 lead at the 1:56 mark of the quarter. The Titans took their seven-point lead on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Wara to Steve Stoltz (Fr. • Greendale) and an extra point kick by Raschke.

UW-La Crosse had 381 yards of offense in the game, with Tennies completing 24 of 39 passes for 211 yards. Burnoski totaled 114 yards on his 13 pass receptions, while Andrew Lehman compiled 53 yards on his six grabs. Ben Dorsey, who left the game in the third quarter with an injury, led UW-La Crosse in rushing 104 yards in 17 attempts.

Wara accounted for 251 of UW-Oshkosh's 310 yards of offense by completing 16 of 31 passes for 199 yards and rushing 18 times for 52 yards. Patek caught four of Wara's passes for 57 yards, while Chad LaLuzerne (So. • Algoma) grabbed four for 34.

Defensively, Kevin Fitzgerald led UW-La Crosse with 16 tackles, including seven solo. The Eagles also received nine tackles from both Josh Otto and Deke Stanek. Nick Kilton (Jr. • Waukesha) and Craig Korth (Sr. • Menasha) each had 13 tackles to pace UW-Oshkosh, while Jason Manikowski (So. • Cudahy) totaled 11. Kilton led all players with 10 solo tackles.