Falcons Close Season with 49-35 Loss to Eau Claire

Nov. 14, 2009 

The Falcon football team dropped the season finale to UW-Eau Claire 49-35 at Ramer Field Saturday afternoon. RF held a 14 point lead in the second quarter, however the Blugolds rattled off 35 unanswered points to pull away for the win.

The Falcons scored a touchdown on the fourth play of the game to take an early lead. Quarterback Ryan Luessenheide scrambled up the middle for 32 yards, weaving through Blugold defenders, and scored with 13:05 remaining in the first quarter.

EC answered with a six-play, 65-yard drive on the next possession. Cory Sartorelli capped the drive with a rush up the middle for 30 yards and the touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 10:39 remaining in the first quarter.

On the next possession RF went 75 yards on eight plays for another touchdown. Luessenheide finished the drive with a two-yard quarterback sneak for his second rushing touchdown of the game to put the Falcons on top 14-7.

The offense kept coming in this one as EC answered again with a quick four-play drive covering 51 yards for a score. Kyle Paulson found Brett Schreiner for 17 yards and a touchdown to tie the game 14-14 with 5:27 remaining in the first quarter.

Without missing a beat the Falcons came out firing. Eric Brewster caught a 24-yard strike for the big play in an eight-play, 62-yard drive finished with a Greg Klingelhutz run over left tackle for a seven-yard rushing touchdown.

The first quarter came to an end with the Falcons leading 21-14. RF was 3-3 on third down conversions in the first quarter and nearly doubled the EC time of possession.

The second quarter began with the first punts of the game as each team’s defense picked up a stop. After the Falcons stopped the Blugolds for a second consecutive time, Luessenheide opened the Falcon drive with a deep pass to Brewster for a 58-yard reception to the EC one-yard line. Taylor Edwards banged up the middle to pay dirt and gave the Falcons a 28-14 lead with 9:08 remaining in the first half.

The lead would not last the second quarter, however, as the Blugolds scored three touchdowns in the final 9:08 of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the break. Sartorelli ran three yards up the middle for a touchdown with 5:26 remaining. With 2:04 left in the half Kyle Paulson ran around the right end after an excellent play fake for a 21-yard touchdown. And finally, with just 18 seconds before halftime, a Paulson to Mike O’Connell pass connection for two yards gave EC their first lead of the game.

B.J. Letourneau took over at quarterback for the Falcons in the second half, but the offense could not find its rhythm. The Falcons stalled on all three of their third quarter possessions.

EC added to the lead with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter when Paulson hooked up with David Goodman for a 49-yard touchdown strike to make the score 42-28.

The Blugolds added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 35 unanswered points. Paulson scored on a nine yard run with 11:24 remaining in the game to close out the scoring for EC.

Luessenheide returned to quarterback for the Falcons in the fourth quarter and led a 10-play, 85 yard scoring drive. Luessenheide connected with Brewster again, this time for 19 yards and a touchdown, with 2:03 remaining in the game to trim the EC lead to 49-35.

After a failed onside kick attempt, the Falcon defense held EC and got the ball back with 1:54 remaining. RF could not find the end zone, however, and the Falcons fell to EC for the first time since 2006.

EC finished the game with 229 rushing yards and 345 yards passing for 575 yards of total offense. RF finished with 494 yards of total offense on 198 rushing yards and 296 yards passing. Each team had 27 first downs in the game and total time of possession was only separated by 33 seconds.

Blugold running back Cory Sartorelli led all rushers in the game with 163 yards and two touchdowns. EC quarterback Kyle Paulson finished the game 26-35 passing for 345 yards and three touchdowns.

Falcon running back Taylor Edwards’ 84 yards on 18 carries against EC pushed his season total to 1,076 yards. Edwards also scored a touchdown in the game, his ninth touchdown of the season. He is the first Falcon to top 1,000 yards since Nathan Anderson rushed for 1,468 yards in 2007.

Quarterback Ryan Luessenheide completed 17-35 passes for 283 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground totaling 52 yards rushing in the game.

Eric Brewster led the Falcons with 117 yards receiving and a touchdown on five receptions. Michael Woodward added 76 yards on four receptions.

Falcons Ross Potter and Cole Lowell led the defense with ten tackles each in the game. Ben Arata had eight solo tackles and nine total tackles in the game as well.

The Falcons close the season with a record of 3-7 overall, 1-6 WIAC.

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