Blue Devils outlast Blugolds, capture sixth straight win over Eau Claire, bring I-94 trophy back home

UW-Stout 38, UW-Eau Claire 34

EAU CLAIRE (October 9. 2021) - What started out as a sprint, ended in a marathon as UW-Stout outlasted UW-Eau Claire 38-34 to win their sixth consecutive game over the Blugolds in the "War on 94" series Saturday at Carson Park.

In a game that saw nearly 300 yards of offense by each team and a combined 52 points in the first half alone came down to a game in the trenches and the Blue Devils' back-up tailback, Matt Pomietlo, would come up big.

Stout led 28-24 at halftime, but the Blue Devils turned the ball over twice in the third quarter, lost 250-pound tailback Rayshawn Graham to injury and gave up the lead at 4:56 in the third quarter. After the Blugolds' Sam Burzynski intercepted Stout quarterback Sean Borgerding at the Eau Claire 45, the Blugolds went the 55 yards in eight plays, capped off by a quarterback run by Harry Roubidoux to take a 31-28 lead. 

Stout would tie the game on their next series when Jack Meyer booted a 51-yard field, the second longest of his young collegiate career, to tie the game at 31 apiece. 

Eau Claire would take a 34-31 lead after Stout made a goal line stand. Eau Claire got to the Stout 1-yard line, but consecutive stops by Jackson Mack and Dylan Larrabee on first down and a bruising tackle by safety Mason Priebe on second down, was followed by an incomplete pass. forcing the kick at 7:40 of the final stanza. 

It then would become the Matt Pomietlo show, along with some well-time passes from Borgerding, and a pass interference call on Eau Claire. Pomietlo, who tips the scale at 185-pounds, 65 pounds lighter than the bruising Graham, ran the ball seven times in the 12-play, 70-yard drive, gaining 28 yards. Pomietlo got the call the final four plays of the drive, gaining seven yards on 1st and 10 from the 16 and another seven yards for a first down to the Eau Claire 2-yard line. 

Following a timeout, Pomietlo was stopped for what was officially a one-yard loss on 1st and goal, then moved his way through the pile on second down to find his way into the end zone for a three-yard score. Luke Cool, who lined up for all extra point kicks tonight, booted the final point of the game.

As impressive as Pomietlo was driving his way to the touchdown one the end of the drive, perhaps his best play of the drive and the game came on 4th and 1 from the Stout 39. Pomietlo hit the right side of Stout's line, and kept his legs churning, using a determined second effort to get the needed first down and gain two yards, eventually setting up his game-winning touchdown, the first of his collegiate career. 

Holding the four point lead with 2:19 left on the clock and the ball on the Eau Claire 35 after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, there was still work to be done by the Blue Devil defense after seeing Eau Claire move the ball effectively throughout the night.

Roubidoux's first pass fell incomplete and his second was intercepted after Nate Rewald put a jarring hit on the intended receiver and the ball flew into senior captain Haydon Miller's hands to effectively end the game with just over two minutes left. Borgerding burned time off the clock on the first two plays by running around in the backfield, then took a knee on third down to seal the win. 

Fans certainly got their money worth in just the first half of this game between the long-time rivals.

By halftime, both of the teams had nearly reached 300 totals yards and the teams combined for a 52 total points before the halftime show.

The Blue Devils had reached 289 total yards at halftime, with Borgerding completing 12 of 18 passes for 230 yards and throwing for two touchdowns. Graham ran for two short touchdowns. Parker Fossum had five catches for 125 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter. 

Eau Claire had the same amount of fireworks, tallying 295 total yards before the break as Roubideaux was 10 for 17 with 257 passing yards and three touchdown throws. Darius Jones had three receptions for 112 yards, including a 76-yard strike to tie the game early in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils opened the scoring by moving the ball 63 yards in seven plays, keyed by a 34-yard reception to Arthur Cox to the Eau Claire 2. Graham bulled over to give Stout the lead at 10:12 and Luke Cool booted the extra point for his first collegiate point.

The teams traded possessions and punts before Eau Claire tied the score on a 76-yard scoring pass to Darius Jones. 

Stout drove 65 yards on 10 plays as Borgerding capped off the drive with a 24-yard TD pass to Levy Hamer. The extra point was blocked and Stout led 13-7. 

The Blue Devils took advantage of a poor Eau Claire punt on their next drive. Starting at the Eau Claire 35, Borgerding hit Hamer for a 24 yard pass to the Eau Claire and two runs by Graham put the ball in the end zone. Stout went for the two-point conversion and Borgerding found fullback Camron LeMay to give Stout a 21-7 lead at 12:50 of the second quarter. The Blugolds got a 35-yard field goal from Brady Frantal at 6:36 to make the score 21-10. 

Stout needed only three plays to go 91 yards and go up 28-10. Matt Pomietlo ran for four yards on first down to the Stout 13. Borgerding hit Fossum on back-to-back plays, first an eight yard pass for a first down to the Stout 21 and next on a 79-yard touchdown at 5:02 and, following Cool's extra point, Stout led 28-10.

The Blugolds would score on their next two drives to make it a four point game. Roubidoux found Will Adair for a 55-yard TD at 2:32, then worked the clock to go 79 yards in 65 seconds and nine yards to score, hitting Joe Swanson for a 15 yard touchdown pass over the middle with seven seconds remaining to make the score 28-24 at halftime. 

When this contest wrapped up, Stout finished with 421 yards of total offense, while the Blugolds finished with 439 yards of offense.

Borgerding completed 16 of 28 passes for 282 yards and two TDs. Fossum finished with five catches for 125 yards. Hamer had five grabs for 85 yards and Cox had three receptions for 53 yards. Before he left the game, Graham had piled up 100 yards on the ground, his third 100-yard game of the season. With the two TDs, he ran his touchdowns to nine on the season at the midway point. Pomietlo rolled up 52 yards on 14 carries. 

Roubidoux completed 13 of 24 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns. Jones had three catches for 112 yards and Swanson had four receptions for 91 yards. Austin Belot had 27 rushes for 128 yards. 

Stout returns home Saturday, Oct. 16 to host UW-Stevens Point with a 1 p.m. homecoming start.