UW-L prepares for powerhouse UW-Whitewater
22245172LA CROSSE, WI — The UW-La Crosse football team is still in search of its first win, and they face as daunting of a task as there is in Div. 3 football to get it: powerhouse UW-Whitewater.
“If you can’t get up for this game, it’s the conference opener, it’s against Whitewater, then I’m not sure we’re going to find much motivation,” UW-L head coach Joel Dettwiler said.
The last time UW-L was 0-3 was 2011, Dettwiler’s first season. Then they beat UW-Stevens Point on a last second field goal, the first of two straight wins. Dettwiler hopes that same magic occurs Saturday against the Warhawks.
“I think when you get to a certain point, both the kids and coaches are tired of talking,” Dettwiler said. “We know what has to be done.”
“We just gotta come out and play a game,” said junior running back Ben Hertrampf. “We can’t say we’re going to play, we can’t say we’re going to score touchdowns, we can’t say we’re going to get interceptions. We just gotta come out and do it.
“We’re 0-3 right now so it’d be nice to get a win against these guys. I mean it’d boost our morale a little bit and it’s a good way to start off the conference season.”
Hertrampf could see a bigger workload on Saturday. Running back Jared Stan has a shoulder injury and won’t play.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles after this weekend. After facing 12th ranked Whitewater Saturday, UW-L hits the road to face 8th ranked Oshkosh.
