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UW-Eau Claire 20, UW-Stout 17EAU CLAIRE (November 1, 2014) - The "War on 94" trophy won't be returning to UW-Stout for at least another year. The Blue Devils lost a 20-17 contest at Carson Park Saturday as UW-Eau Claire scored in the final minutes of the game to reclaim the prize for the year.
The game proved to be a back-and-forth contest for the two nearby rivals which were both looking for their first conference win of the season.
Eau Claire (1-7, 1-4 WIAC) got on the scoreboard first when Joel Newman connected with Matthew Knapp for a 23-yard touchdown pass at 6:56 in the first period. The extra point failed, and Eau Claire held a 6-0 lead.
The Blue Devils (1-7, 0-5 WIAC) scored on their next drive, which opened with a 36-yard pass play from quarterback
Garrett Peterson (So, Menasha) to
Cody Rosemeyer (Sr, Gilman). Eight plays later, the drive stalled when Peterson was sacked, but
Taylor Pahl (Fr, Hortonville) came on to boot a career-best 39-yard field goal with 2:42 remaining on the first quarter clock.
The teams traded drives though much of the second quarter before Stout put together an 8-play, 81-yard scoring drive, highlighted by another long pass play from Peterson to Rosemeyer, this one a 41 yard play to put the ball on the Eau Claire 13.
Tanner Kuehn (Sr, Fairchild) carried the ball over on the next play and Stout led 10-6 with 2:51 left in the half.
The Blugolds took the momentum back on the ensuing drive and Newman capped off the 9-play, 75-yard drive with a nine yard TD pass to Knapp and Eau Claire led 13-10 at the intermission.
The momentum swung back to Stout in a big way early in the second half.
James Van Thiel (So, Hilbert) stepped in front of a Newman pass and returned it to the Eau Claire 10 when the ball was jarred loose by a Blugold defender. The ball rolled into the end zone where Stout defensive lineman
Josh Archibald (Sr, Cottage Grove) fell on the ball for the score and Stout was up, 17-13 at 11:34 in the third quarter.
Stout continued to be opportunistic when cornerback
Grant Miller (So, Pleasonton, Calif) got his second interception of the season on the next series.
Offenses stalled over the course of the remainder of the third period and into the fourth period as the teams combined to punt the ball away seven times.
Eau Claire would make good on a drive six minutes into the final stanza grinding up six minutes before Newman connected on his third TD pass of the day, this time a four-yard strike to Luke Emmerich with 3:26 left on the clock for a 20-17 lead.
Stout got a first down on the first play of the following drive, but then stalled, turning the ball over on downs at their own 49 with just under two minutes remaining. Eau Claire ran out the clock to preserve their first win of the season.
The Blugolds held a huge advantage in time of possession, racking up 35:18 minutes of time compared to 24:42 for Stout. The Blugolds held an advantage in total yards, running up 285 yards of total offense, 280 coming through the air and five on the ground, compared to Stout's 227 yards, 161 passing and 66 rushing.
Newman finished the day connecting on 30-of-47 passes for 280 yards, with three scores and two interceptions. Knapp and Emmerich both hauled in 11 passes, with Knapp collecting 125 yards with two scores and Emmerich 101 yards and a score.
Peterson completed 13-of-27 passes for 161 yards with no interceptions and no scores. Rosemeyer had two receptions for 77 yards. Kuehn rushed 16 times for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Van Thiel finished the day with 10 tackles, all solo, and the 60 yard interception return.
Alec Zoern (Sr, Germantown) had seven tackles, six solo. Both team recorded one sack,
Jamie Rohrig (Sr, Owatonna, Minn) for Stout and Jalen Thomas for Eau Claire.
Archibald's touchdown was the first by a Stout defensive player since both defensive lineman Marcus Ball and defensive back Kendall Wade returned interceptions for scores against UW-Platteville, Nov. 7, 2009.
Stout will close the home portion on their schedule Saturday, Nov. 8 when they host UW-River Falls at 1 p.m.
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