Box Score

Mike Ferron (Racine/Horlick) had a first quarter to forget, but ended up having a day to remember for a long time, rushing for 199 yards to lead UW-Stevens Point to a wild 45-42 victory over UW-River Falls on Saturday at Goerke Field in Stevens Point.

The sophomore running back fumbled on his first carry and had nine yards in the first quarter, but ran over the Falcons' defense for 135 second-half yards and two touchdowns in the highest-scoring game in 63 all-time meetings between the two Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivals. The game also marked the most points UW-Stevens Point has ever allowed in a victory as the Pointers improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1999 and extended the second-longest winning streak in the NCAA Division III to eight games. UW-River Falls fell to 1-3 overall.

Ferron set up the Pointers' winning score late in the fourth quarter, picking up a fourth-and-two with a 12-yard run from UW-Stevens Point's own 48-yard line. Ferron barreled ahead for 15 yards on the next three carries and then, with the Falcons' defense keying on Ferron, Pointers' quarterback Jake Swank (Oregon/Oregon) faked a handoff and raced around the left side 25 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 2:17 left in the game.

UW-River Falls gained possession on its own 29-yard line, but the Pointers stopped the Falcons on four plays with Dustin Robinson (Florence/Florence) grabbing Falcons' quarterback Storm Harmon by the ankle three yards short of the first down. Harmon had a strong day for the Falcons, completing 21 of 43 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 38 yards. Harmon was zero-for-five passing in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons controlled the ball early by running 22 of the game's first 23 plays. Ferron had a fumble on the Pointers' first play and after Nathan Anderson converted the turnover into a one-yard UW-River Falls touchdown, Kasey Morgan (Iola/Iola-Scandinavia) returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to tie the game. It marked the Pointers' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Cory Flisakowski returned the opening kickoff against UW-La Crosse in 2002.

UW-River Falls took a 21-7 lead on back-to-back 15-yard touchdown catches by Michael Zweifel. The freshman receiver eclipsed his own school record for receptions in a game with 12 catches for 144 yards.

UW-Stevens Point battled back to within 21-16 at halftime on a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Graboski (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) and a nine-yard touchdown catch by Brad Kalsow (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) with seven seconds left in the first half that was set up by a blocked punt by Travis Smallwood (Menomonee Falls/Menomonee Falls) with 43 seconds left in the half.

The second half featured seven lead changes with each team alternating touchdowns. UW-Stevens Point, which entered the game leading Division III in interceptions and takeaways, forced just one turnover in the game, but Luke Frisch (Nekoosa/Nekoosa) returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown and a 31-28 lead in the third quarter.

Anderson, who totaled 141 yards on 38 carries, put UW-River Falls ahead 42-38 with 5:16 left in the fourth quarter before the Pointers' game-winning touchdown.

Swank was seven-for-16 passing for 60 yards and Lincoln Berg (Edgar/Edgar) had 15 tackles with 13 solo stops for the Pointers. Gregg Neumann had four sacks and a fumble recovery for the Falcons.