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Home > The Swing > A Top 10 matchup, questions at QB and a high-powered offense to stop for No. 9 UW-La Crosse
Podcast: The Swing
Episode:

A Top 10 matchup, questions at QB and a high-powered offense to stop for No. 9 UW-La Crosse
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-11-07 00:19:28
Description:

A Top 10 matchup and a starting quarterback who’s questionable for the UW-La Crosse football team with the WIAC championship on the line.

The No. 9 Eagles (6-1, 4-1) travel to eighth-ranked River Falls (7-1, 4-1) for a 1 p.m. showdown Saturday, with audio stream on the WKTY app, website and on 96.7 FM / 580 AM. Pregame at 12:45 p.m.

A big question for the UW-L offense is who will play quarterback. Both starter Kyle Haas and backup Nolan Mosier left last Saturday’s game with shoulder injuries, forcing third-string quarterback Jacob Huber to finish the last quarter and a half of the game.

UW-L coach Matt Janus said the fact that all three engineered touchdown drives is a credit to offensive coordinator Tarek Yaeggi.

“He’s meeting with all those guys,” Janus said. “Nolan and Jacob don’t get the same number of reps that Kyle gets, but him understanding the importance of mental reps to get those guys ready to go, and for our offense to not skip a beat says a lot about the play caller that we have.”

Meanwhile, this will be the toughest test of the year for the UW-L defense.

UW-RF quarterback Kaleb Blaha and the offense have put up video game like numbers this season.

The 6-foot-2 senior QB, who transferred from Winona State — like UW-L’s Haas — has thrown for more than 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns, while rushing for 688 and scoring another 11 times. Blaha accounted for over 500 yards and seven touchdowns in the Falcons’ 52-14 win over UW-Whitewater last week.

Janus said the key to slowing Blaha down will be making him think more than he has the last couple of weeks.

“Whitewater played like two calls the entire game,” Janus said. “Our gameplan is going to be changing things up as much as we possibly can with him and move some coverages around to slow them down.”

Two years ago, at River Falls, the Eagles’ Jack Kelly blocked a kick as time expired to secure a 31-28 win and a share of the conference championship.

Janus said history might need to repeat itself for UW-L to leave River Falls with a win again.

“We always talk about winning the third phase,” Janus said. “Whether that be touchdowns or field position, when you play games like this, there’s going to be a play on special teams that has a huge impact in the game.”

TOP PHOTO: FILE – The UW-La Crosse defense stops UW-Stout during its game on Nov 1, 2025 (PHOTO: Garvey Images @laxfootball on Facebook)
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