MENOMONIE, Wis. – The fourth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team (4-0, 1-0 WIAC) held off a second-half comeback attempt by UW-Stout Polytechnic (2-2, 0-1 WIAC) to win 31-27 in the WIAC opener on Saturday afternoon from Don and Nona Williams Stadium in Menomonie.
A dominant first-half effort saw the Pioneers lead 28-7 at the break behind a pair of defensive touchdowns and two touchdown passes from junior
Nathan Uselding. The momentum flipped in the second half, as UW-Stout outscored UW-Platteville 20-3 and cut the deficit to four with 1:20 remaining on a touchdown pass. Needing one more possession, the Blue Devils attempted an onside kick, but senior
Parker Douglas recovered the ball to give the Pioneers the win.
Uselding finished 20-for-28 passing for 185 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. After a fast start, Uselding and the Pioneers offense struggled to move the ball in the second half, generating just three points and 89 total yards.
On the ground, senior
Zackary Bothun carried 17 times for 64 yards, while sophomore
Blake Bangtson added 35 yards and touchdown on nine attempts. Senior wide receiver
Kristian Gavric paced the team with 56 yards on his six receptions, while senior
Jaxson Garbisch totaled 41 yards on four catches.
The Pioneers forced four turnovers in the win, with junior
Rob Francis responsible for a forced fumble and an interception. Senior
Cormac Sammons came up with a late interception on a deflected pass, and sophomore
Brayden Knoll jumped on a muffed punt in the first half.
Junior
Drew Gallagher had a team-high eight tackles, while Meyer finished with seven. Senior
Martin McDonald tallied his second sack of the season, and junior
Ashton Honore and senior
Elijah Krantz combined for UW-Platteville's second sack.
Sophomore
Michael Thiede punted four times, finishing with a long of 52 yards and two punts inside the UW-Stout 20-yard line. Kicker
Brady Mobley finished a perfect 4-for-4 on extra point tries and converted a 25-yard field goal late in the game.
UW-Platteville got the ball first and went on a long 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive to begin the afternoon. The Pioneers converted three third downs on the methodical drive and reached the end zone on a 20-yard touchdown pass up the seam to Bangtson.
After a quick three-and-out for the Blue Devils, the Pioneers marched down the field again but were stopped on a fourth-and-one try after Uselding's pass attempt to Garbisch came up incomplete. UW-Stout took over at their own nine-yard line but turned the ball over on the second play after Francis forced a fumble on a screen pass. Meyer scooped up the loose ball and ran it 22 yards down the sideline to add to the Pioneers lead.
Both teams punted on their next drives, but the Blue Devils were unable to handle the ball and Knoll jumped on the muffed punt. The Pioneers were able to capitalize on the mistake three plays later, as Uselding tossed to Douglas for a five-yard score.
UW-Stout answered with its first points of the game on a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. The Blue Devils had completions of 19- and 33-yards on the drive and capped it with an eight-yard pass into the end zone.
The Pioneers defense came up with another big play on UW-Stout's next possession. The Blue Devils looked to add points before the half, but Francis jumped a route and came up with a 21-yard pick six to extend UW-Platteville's lead to 28-7 heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, UW-Stout scored on both of its first two possessions while forcing a Pioneers three-and-out in between the scores. UW-Platteville responded with a 15-play drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal by Mobley. The offense moved the ball as close as the five-yard line, but a pair of negative plays pushed the ball back and forced the field goal.
Following a pair of punts, the Blue Devils drove the ball inside the 30-yard line but a fourth-down pass attempt was deflected at the line and intercepted by Sammons. The Pioneers only possessed the ball for 25 seconds before UW-Stout got it back and drove for a touchdown with just over a minute remaining. The Blue Devils' extra point attempt was blocked by senior
Jake Kann, keeping UW-Platteville ahead by four.
Needing one more possession and out of timeouts, UW-Stout attempted an onside kick, but Douglas recovered the ball for the Pioneers to set up a pair of kneel downs to win the game.
The Blue Devils finished with a 362 to 291 advantage in total yards after finding more offensive success in the second half. Both teams were solid on third down, with UW-Platteville going 6-for-12 and UW-Stout at 8-for-13.
The Pioneers host UW-Eau Claire next Saturday at 1 p.m. for the annual Homecoming contest.
