Joel Newman orchestrated a picture-perfect opening drive Saturday as the UW-Eau Claire football team went 61 yards in eight plays to score its first touchdown in over a month. It was capped off by a play-action pass to Riley Gebelein from five yards out.

But Eau Claire needed just a little more as the Blugolds fell 20-10 at the hands of host UW-River Falls.

They almost got more at the end of the first half, but Gebelein was stuffed right at the goal line as the second quarter whistle put an stop to what would have been the highest offensive output of the season for the Blugolds.

River Falls scored a touchdown in the third quarter and put the game away with a field goal late in the fourth to take the 10-point victory. It was the first time Eau Claire lost to the Falcons since 2010, snapping a four-game win streak against them.

Newman finished his day 23-of-46 for a career-high 255 yards and no interceptions. However, Eau Claire only mustered up 79 yards of rushing in the contest.

River Falls also completed 60 percent of its first downs, which kept the Blugold offense off the field for longer.

Eau Claire now plays host UW-Stout Saturday in what is known as the Battle on I-94. Stay tuned later in the week for more details about that game.