UW-Stout 26, UW-Eau Claire 20 |
Audio Replay
MENOMONIE (September 29, 2018) - The "War on 94" trophy will stay in Menomonie for another year after
Levy Hamer scored twice and
Rayshawn Graham bulled his way for 145 yards as UW-Stout defeated UW-Eau Claire, 26-20, Saturday at Don and Nona Williams Stadium.
After out-scoring Eau Claire (2-2, 0-1 WIAC) by a combined 130-26 over the last three games, this game proved to be much more entertaining for fans in the stands.
The Blugolds served notice that tonight's game was not going to be a runaway, getting on the board first, taking the opening kickoff and grinding out a 14-play, 7-minute, 53-second drive and took the early lead on an eight yard pass from Scott Procter to Austin Belot.
The teams traded series before Stout (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) got on the board early in the second period on a 41-yard field goal by
Drew Pearson. In the series, quarterback
Sean Borgerding hit Levy for a 41-yard pass play on first down, the first of Hamer's nine catches on the day.
Fueled by a roughing the passer penalty against Stout on fourth down the next time Eau Claire had the ball, the Blugolds scored at 6:21 in the second to make the score 13-3 after Stout's
Jason Dilly blocked the extra point.
The Blue Devils countered with some hard running by Graham who accounted for 36 yards in the series, as Stout went 74 yards in 10 plays,capped off by Borgerding's 8-yard pass to Hamer and Stout trailed 13-10.
Stout had a chance to take the lead just before halftime as Borgerding moved the Blue Devils to the Eau Claire 29. Borgerding lofted a pass to the end zone, but the Blugolds' Carmelo Rosado perfectly timed the pass and tipped it away. The Blue Devils missed a field goal as the first half expired.
The Blue Devils took advantage of a pair of Eau Claire personal foul penalties on their opening drive of the second half. Stout hit pay dirt when Borgerding connected with Hamer at 11:39 of the third quarter on a 29-yard connection and Stout took their first lead of the game, 17-13.
The lead would change hands twice over the next five-plus minutes. Eau Claire would need only 2-minutes, 26-seconds to regain the lead when quarterback Procter ran 32 yards for the score at 9:13 of the third quarter.
Stout would need just over three minutes to grab the lead back for good. On the second play of the drive, Borgerding and Hamer hooked up for a 22-yard pass to the 5- and Borgerding found
Noel Gonzalez for 20 yards on the next play. Hamer took a Borgerding pass to the 13 and an offsides penalty on Eau Claire put the ball on the 8-yard line, where Graham took the hand off to the end zone. A blocked extra point later, and Stout led 23-20, at 6:05 in the third period.
The Stout defense forced a three-and-out by Eau Claire, but Stout was stifled on their next drive and neither team moved the ball effectively.
Stout had a promising drive stopped midway through the final quarter by a fumble, a drive that saw Graham pile up 32 yards. Stout forced another three-and-out, giving Stout good field position on the next drive.
Keyshawn Carpenter peeled off runs of 21- and 12-yards on the first two carries. But Stout was sopped at the 10 and took a 26-20 lead on a 27-yard field goal by Pearson.
The Blue Devil defense dug deep again and
Jed Schlegel came up with an interception and, after Carpenter gained a first down on a 12-yard dash, the Blue Devils were able to run out the clock.
Stout tallied 426 yards of total offense, gaining 193 on the ground and 233 through the air, while holding Eau Claire to 255 total yards, 203 by rushing and only 52 through the air.
Graham rushed for 145 yards on 24 carries, with much of the yardage coming after contact. For the 220-pound tailback, it was his second consecutive 100-yard game. Carpenter finished with 50 yards on the ground. Borgerding was 15-of-28 with two TDs and 233 yards. Hamer had nine catches for 177 yards, his best collegiate day, both in number of catches and in total receiving yards. With 59 return yards on four kickoff returns, Hamer finished with 236 all-purpose yards.
Procter led the Blugolds' ground game with 97 yards on nine carries. He was sacked once. Kulaga carried 24 times for 88 yards, mostly heading towards the outside. Procter was 9-of-25 in passing for 52 yards, one interception and one touchdown.
Luke Wilz and Schlegel each finished with 10 tackles. Wilz forced a fumble and Schlegel had two pass breakups and his second interception of the season.
Aaron Wisecup and
Dylan Peterson teamed up for Stout's one sack.
Eau Claire's Sam Romanski had 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack. Cameron Swanson broke up three passes.
This was the fourth consecutive win for the Blue Devils over the Blugolds, the first time that has happened in the series. Since the "War on 94" was established in 2008, Stout leads the series 7-4.
The Blue Devils stay at Williams Stadium for the third consecutive week when they host UW-La Crosse in the annual homecoming contest at 2 p.m.
