EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - While the UW-Eau Claire football team got down early against UW-La Crosse, the Blugolds were able to get momentum with some big plays in a 27-17 win at Carson Park today.

The Blugolds (5-4, 3-3 WIAC) had three pass plays of 45 or more yards, two of which accounted for touchdowns.

After La Crosse (5-4, 2-4 WIAC) got up by 10 in the first quarter, Eau Claire got on the board on its first drive in the second quarter after a 93-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Paulson (Sr.-Amery, Wis.) to David Goodman (So.-Neenah, Wis.). After adding the extra point, the score remained 10-7 at the half. The 93-yard pass tied for the third longest pass play in school history.

The Blugolds then took the lead for good in the third quarter after taking their first drive 91 yards in four plays to the end zone. A 65-yard pass play from Paulson to Spencer Kehoe (Sr.-Clear Lake, Wis./Clear Lake) helped on the drive that ended in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brett Schreiner (Sr.-Somerset, Wis.). Eau Claire added another touchdown on its next drive to go up 20-10. It was Cory Sartorelli (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./North) who scored on a two-yard run after a fake field goal on fourth-and-one helped lead to the score.

The Eagles closed the gap to just three after a touchdown early in the fourth but the Blugolds held strong and forced punts on La Crosse's next two possessions. The Blugolds scored with just over two minutes left to help seal the deal. This time it was Austin Neu (Fr.-Iron Ridge, Wis./Hustisford) hitting Ryan Moertel (So.-Rochester, Minn./Century) on a 65-yard pass on a fake punt to help give the Blugolds the 27-17 victory.

The Blugolds finished the game with 436 yards of total offense, 101 on the ground and 335 passing. Eau Claire had just 178 yards in the first half, 93 coming from its first touchdown before the offense got into a rhythm in the second half. La Crosse had 419 yards of offense (102 rushing and 317 passing).

Paulson led Eau Claire with 290 passing yards on 17-for-37 passing. He moved into third place on the Blugolds' all-time career passing yards list as he now has 6,032. Sartorelli, who had just 17 rushing yards in the first half, finished the game with 72 on 25 attempts. Kehoe led the Blugolds with 110 receiving yards, a career-high.

For La Crosse, quarterback Nick Anker finished with 317 passing yards with 29 completions on 57 attempts. Reid Oldenburg had 103 rushing yards and Travis Bordeau finished with 134 receiving yards to lead the Eagles.

On defense, the Blugolds were led by Mark Bader (Jr.-Burnsville, Minn.) with eight tackles. Eau Claire came away up with three sacks, one interception and also recovered two fumbles while forcing one.

The Blugolds will wrap up the 2009 season next weekend when they travel to River Falls for a game against UW-River Falls. Action is set to get underway at 1 p.m.