Box Score UW-Stout 45, UW-Eau Claire 17
EAU CLAIRE (November 16, 2019) - While UW-Stout still held a two possession lead midway through the fourth quarter, UW-Eau Claire had just made a run at the Blue Devils, scoring two straight touchdowns and Eau Claire had just stopped the Blue Devils to force a punt and get the ball back.
But the opportunistic defensive back
Jed Schlegel made the play to swing the momentum back to the Blue Devils. Schlegel, playing very tight coverage, wrestled the ball away from the Eau Claire receiver on the Eau Claire 18 to make his third interception of the game. Two plays later, quarterback
Sean Borgerding hit a leaping
Parker Fossum in the end zone for a 17-yard TD to stretch the lead back to a three possession game, 38-17.
Blake Purdy catches a TD pass.
On the next series, Eau Claire (3-7, 1-6 WIAC) was stopped on downs and six plays later Borgerding found tight end
Blake Purdy for Purdy's second TD reception of the game and Borgerding's fifth touchdown toss of the game and the Blue Devils (4-6, 3-4 WIAC) went on to a 45-17 win and could claim the I-94 trophy and return it to Menomonie.
But it was the Blugolds who drew first blood in this rivalry that has run more than 100 years when Edgar Ficke-Anderson booted a 20-yard field goal after Eau Claire drove 67 yards in 12 plays with 6:52 left in the first period.
Stout took over and would score the next 31 points, starting in the second quarter. The Blue Devils drove 70 yards in eight plays and Borgerding capped off the drive with a 22-yard TD pass to Purdy to give Stout a lead they would not come close to relinquishing.
After forcing an Eau Claire punt, Stout needed only two plays to take a 14-3 lead. After completing a seven yard pass to
Tyler Seymour,
Kevion McDonald broke loose on an end-around, going 78 yards down the sideline for a score, his longest offensive play from scrimmage as a Blue Devil, surpassing a 77-yard receiving TD against St. Thomas in 2017.
Schlegel gave the Blue Devils the ball back as the Blugolds were threatening late in the second quarter, intercepting his first pass of the game in the end zone and returning it 32 yards to the Stout 32 with 39 seconds remaining.
Stout struck quickly before halftime. Borgerding hit
Levy Hamer for a 59 yard pass play to the Eau Claire 9.
Nick Arguedas ran the ball to the 5 and Borgerding hit Seymour in the end zone to give Stout a 21-3 lead with 11 seconds over.
Schlegel's half was not over, and the senior picked off the Hail Mary pass at the Stout 3 to end any Eau Claire threat.
The Blue Devils went three-and-out to open the second half, but Stout put the kabosh on the Blugolds when
Cannon Griner intercepted his second pass of the season and returned it 14 yards to the Eau Claire 20. Stout could not punch the ball into the end zone, but still converted the turnover into points when
Alec Benzinger drilled his ninth field goal of the season, this one from 44 yards out and Stout led 24-3.
Stout held Eau Claire to five yards on their next drive, forcing another punt. Borgerding completed six passes over eight plays in the ensuing drive, finding Fossum for 11 yards, Seymour for nine yards, McDonald for 14 yards, back
Nick Arguedas for six yards and Hamer twice for a total of 30 yards, including a nine yard TD pass to make it 31-3.
It looked like the Blue Devils would have another opportunity to score off an Eau Claire turnover after Griner popped out the ball and recovered the ball, but Stout would commit their only turnover of the game on the next drive.
Eau Claire would score the next two touchdowns, driving 83 yards in 14 plays and scored when QB Josiah Johnson found Darius Jones for an 18 yard touchdown at 12:29 of the fourth period. The Blugolds scored on their next drive. Johnson hit Conrad Bolz for a 39 yard pass play to the Stout 30 on first down. Three plays later, the Blugolds found the end zone again when Johnson completed a nine yard touchdown pass, giving the Blugolds the momentum and they trailed 31-17.
But Schlegel's ball hawking skills shifted that momentum and two scores by the Blue Devils completely smashed any hopes Eau Claire would have of keeping the trophy, which had been damaged during pregame warm-ups.
Borgerding had another solid day, throwing for more than 200 yards for the eighth time this season and the 14th time in his two seasons. Borgerding was was 17-of-28 for 239 yards, with no interceptions and five touchdowns, his first career five TD game. Borgerding joins former Blue Devils quarterbacks Hank Kujak, Matt Bunyan and Tim Peterson who have thrown five TDs in a game. Bunyan threw six TD passes in one game.
Hamer had four catches for 99 yards, while Arguedas had three catches for 34 scores. Purdy, who missed several games due to injury, had two catches - both for TDs - for 24 yards. McDonald had only one reception for 14 yards, but finished his career third on the Stout all-time receiving list with 1909 receiving yards. McDonald had four rushes for 96 yards. Arguedas had 11 carries for 46 yards.
Stout finished with 387 yards of total offense, 239 through the air, 148 on the ground. Eau Claire had 354 total yards of offense, 249 passing, 105 rushing.
Johnson completed 15 of 24 passes for 193 yards and a pair of scores, but was picked off three times. Parker Bohm was 6 of 9 for 56 yards and was intercepted once. Braden O'Laughlin caught six passes for 62 yards. Swanson had five catches for 47 yards and a score. Conrad Bolz pulled down three passes for 75 yards. Darius Jones caught three passes for 46 yards and a TD.
Luke Wilz recorded 10 tackles and was in on both Blue Devil sacks. Griner had nine tackles, eight solo, and had the fumble forced, fumble recovered and an interception. Schlegel had five tackles and hawked the three interceptions for 32 yards of returns.
Only two Blue Devils have intercepted more passes in a single game than Schlegel did today. Linebacker Roger Zell did it twice in 1969, getting four against Oshkosh and River Falls. Paul Christopherson had four against Superior in 1951.
Alec Benzinger was true on all six extra points and the 44-yard field field. He averaged 47.0 yards on five punts, pinning two punts within the 20-yard line, including a season-long 69 yard punt.
