Box Score UW-Eau Claire 21, UW-Stout 13
EAU CLAIRE (September 29, 2012) - UW-Stout tailback
Eric Brown (Sr, St. Paul, Minn) rushed for more than 100 yards for the second consecutive week and the Blue Devils defense sacked the UW-Eau Claire quarterback six times, but Stout turned the ball over three times and Eau Claire captured a 21-13 win in the conference opener for both teams Saturday at Carson Park.
Brown rushed for 135 yards, following a 127 yard effort the week before, and defensive lineman
Ryan Ericksen (Sr, Stanley) was in on three of the Blue Devil sacks.
Stout opened the scoring with a 43-yard field goal by
Ricky Marteney (Jr, Greenfield), early in the second period, matching his career-best. The field goal was set up by two sacks - one by Ericksen, one by
Jake Johnson (Sr, Champlin Park, Minn) - on the Blugolds' previous drive. Brown gave the Blue Devils good field position with a 43-yard first down jaunt.
Eau Claire (1-3, 1-0 WIAC) took the lead just before halftime on a 6-minute, 13-second, 95 yard drive, capped off by a 14-yard TD pass from Austin Neu to Jared Staege and the Blugolds took a 7-3 lead into the locker room after the Blue Devils attempted a 47 yard field that fell just short..
Stout (2-2, 0-1 WIAC) took the lead back in the third quarter when
Damian Guggenbuehl (Jr, La Crosse) intercepted Neu and returned the ball to the Eau Claire 23.
Blue Devil quarterback
Michael Blizel (Sr, Sturgeon Bay) connected with#
Zak Snell# (So, Castaic, Calif) for a 13-yard pass play to the Eau Claire 8 and two plays later fullback
David Goebel (Jr, Minnetonka, Minn) carried over from the 4 and Stout had a 10-7 lead at 9:42 of the third.
After holding Eau Claire on a three-and-out, Stout was driving when they coughed the ball up at the Eau Claire 36. It would takesix plays for the Blugolds to score. Neu had a 22-yard run early in the drive, then carried the ball in from the 32 to give Eau Claire a 14-10 lead with two seconds remaining in the third period.
Stout drove as far as the Eau Claire 2 on their next series and Marteney kicked a 20-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-13.
The Blugolds scored what would be the final points of the game on their next possession as Neu finished off the 60-yard drive witha 21 yard touchdown strike to tight end Austin Goetsch with seven minutes left.
Stout used nearly five minutes to get within scoring position with a couple of runs by Brown, a 20-yard completion to
Josh Peterson (Sr, Cedar Grove) and two receptions by
Matt Small (So, Atwater, Calif) to get to the Eau Claire 19. But an interception in the end zone by Eau Claire's Tyler Janus ended the drive.
Stout finished with 326 total yards of offense, 162 passing, 164 by rushing. Brown carried the ball 17 times for 135 yards. Blizel completed 12 of 20 passes, with Peterson hauling four passes for 42 yards.
Trevor Morning (Jr, Bloomer) had two catches for 52 yards.
The Blugolds tallied 302 total yards, 181 in the air, 121 on the ground. Neu led the Blugolds in rushing with 93 yards on 18 carries, and completed 16-of-25 passes for 181 yards and accounted for all three Eau Claire TDs, one by rush and two through the pass. Goetsch had four grabs for 46 yards.
Stout returns home for the next two weeks. The Blue Devils will host UW-Stevens Point, Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1 p;m. in the annual homecoming contest, then will host defending national champion UW-Whitewater, Saturday, Oct. 13 for a 2 p.m. contest.
