STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point football team hosts UW-Eau Claire in the team's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener on Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.
FOLLOW THE GAMELive VideoLive AudioLive StatsLAST TIME OUTEight different players scored touchdowns as UW-Stevens Point defeated Finlandia University 77-6 on Saturday, Sept. 26 at McAfee Field in the Lions' second-ever home game.
Jerry Williams (Milwaukee, WI/Watertown),
DeJuan Wright (St. Petersburg, FL/Keswick Christian) and
Britton Vernon (Stillman Valley, IL/Stillman Valley) each found the end zone twice for the Pointers (2-1), who outgained first-year program Finlandia (0-4) by a 595-152 margin.
After the Lions opened the scoring at 10:39 of the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown pass, Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown to give UWSP a 7-6 lead after the Pointers blocked Finlandia's extra point. Williams later scored on a 50-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter after UW-Stevens Point scored five touchdowns in the second quarter to blow the game wide open. UW-Stevens Point had 355 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in the game.
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | Home | Roster | Schedule | StatsUW-Stevens Point's 77 points against Finlandia were the second-most in program history. The school record was in a 108-0 win over St. Norbert on Oct. 15, 1921. It was the fifth time the Pointers have scored more than 70 points in a game and the first since Sept. 13, 2003.
The Pointers' 355 rushing yards against the Lions are the team's most since Sept. 22, 2001 when UWSP ran for 405 yards at UW-Platteville. UW-Stevens Point also ran for seven touchdowns that day. The Pointers have 603 yards and nine touchdowns rushing on 7.7 yards per carry over the last two games.
On the flipside, UW-Stevens Point held Finlandia to 16 rushing yards on 34 attempts in the win. The 16 rushing yards allowed were the fewest by a UWSP opponent since the Pointers held Albion to 11 yards on 22 rushes on Sept. 25, 2010.
Six UW-Stevens Point players scored the first touchdowns of their UWSP careers at Finlandia. Williams' 82-yard kickoff return at 10:22 of the first quarter was his first collegiate touchdown. Williams later caught the first touchdown pass by
Ryan Swigart (Winnebago, IL/Winnebago) on a 50-yard connection early in the third quarter.
Nick Schroeder (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) found the end zone for the first time on an eight-yard run two and a half minutes later.
Steve Herra (Rockford, IL/Boylan) and
Cooper Kerner (Eagle River, WI/Northland Pines) connected for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 3:35 remaining in the third before
Darin Ward (Fond du Lac, WI/St. Mary's Springs) ran for a 40-yard touchdown nine seconds into the fourth quarter. Ward had scored twice in his freshman season of 2013 at Carthage.
The Pointers lead the WIAC in scoring offense (54.3 ppg) and total offense (514.0 yards per game). UW-Stevens Point has scored at least 30 points in eight of its last 13 games in the last two seasons, including each of its last four games.
After kicking seven extra points last week, senior kicker
Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) ranked third in program history in points by a kicker (177). He needs seven points to surpass Ryan Graboski (2005-08) and 10 to overtake Dave Schneider (1988-91) as UWSP's all-time leader. Vervelde trails only Graboski in career field goals with 26.
Offensive Leaders:
Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) – 45-for-91, 682 yards, 8 TDs, 5 INTs, 227.3 yards/game
DeJuan Wright (St. Petersburg, FL/Keswick Christian) – 31 rushes, 205 yards, 6.6 avg., 4 TDs, 68.3 yards/game
Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) – 18 receptions, 379 yards, 21.1 avg., 4 TDs, 126.3 yards/game
Defensive Leaders:
John Kontowicz (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) – 20 tackles, nine solo
Deion Jones (Racine, WI/Horlick) – 18 tackles, 13 solo, one INT
Aaron Karlen (Edgar, WI/Edgar) – 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one block
ABOUT UW-EAU CLAIRE | Home | Roster | Schedule | StatsUW-Eau Claire has lost its first three games of the season and has been outscored 159-31. Two of the Blugolds' three losses came to teams ranked in the top 10 of this week's D3football.com Top 25. UW-Eau Claire lost its season-opener 62-7 to St. Thomas, which is now ranked No. 9, and lost 56-17 to No. 7 Wheaton (Ill.) in its last game on Sept. 19. Between those two games, the Blugolds fell 41-7 to Concordia-Moorhead.
This Saturday's game will be UW-Eau Claire's first road game of the season. The Blugolds are 1-10 on the road in the last two seasons.
Against Wheaton (Ill.), UW-Eau Claire was within four, 21-17, just 51 seconds into the third quarter but the Thunder scored the final 35 points of the game to pull away. Wheaton (Ill.) ran for 426 yards and averaged 9.7 yards per rush in the game.
The Blugolds special teams have been a brightspot, as UWEC leads the WIAC in net punting (36.9 yards/punt). UW-Eau Claire ranks second in the conference in punt return average (20.5 yards/return) on just two returns.
UW-Eau Claire sits second in the WIAC in time of possession (32:01) but has scored on just five of 10 possessions inside the red zone. The Blugolds have turned the ball over four times inside their opponents' 20-yard line in three games.
Offensive Leaders:
JT Denhartog – 37-for-64, 417 yards, 0 TDs, 4 INTs, 139.0 ypg, 2 rushing TDs
Toure Wallace – 32 rushes, 119 yards, 3.7 avg., 0 TDs, 59.5 yards/game
Matthew Knapp – 15 receptions, 219 yards, 0 TDs, 73.0 yards/game (fourth in WIAC)
Defensive Leaders:
Erik Hulman – 24 tackles, 21 solo, one FF, one block
Brandon Luedke – 14 tackles, four pass breakups
THE COACHESTom Journell is in his fourth season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has a 16-17 career record at UWSP. His teams have steadily improved from 2-8 in 2012 to 5-5 in 2013 and 7-3 last season. In 2014, he led the Pointers to a 5-0 start that saw the team ranked No. 13 in the country, the team's highest ranking since early 2009. Prior to becoming the Pointers' head coach, Journell was the team's defensive coordinator for four seasons, helping UWSP to a 19-9 record. He was the head coach at Elmhurst from 2004-07 and compiled a record of 22-18 over the four seasons. Journell also spent 15 seasons at UW-River Falls as the Falcons' defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
This is Todd Glaser's 10th season as the head coach at UW-Eau Claire and is the 15th head coach in program history. He has a career record of 40-55 with the Blugolds and previously served as UWEC's defensive coordinator from 2001-02. His best season was in 2007 when Glaser led the Blugolds to a 9-3 record, their second-ever NCAA Division III Playoff appearance and received WIAC and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) Coach of the Year honors. Glaser was the head coach at Marietta (Ohio) from 2003-05, where he led the Pioneers to their first back-to-back winning seasons in 10 years. Glaser is a UW-Eau Claire alum and accumulated 199 tackles in his career as a defensive lineman for the Blugolds.
SERIES NOTESThis is the 84th meeting between UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire and the Pointers hold a 45-33-5 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1919.
Last season,
Alex Wallace (Brodhead, WI/Brodhead) scored on a 29-yard run and a 45-yard reception to lead No. 16 UW-Stevens Point to a 30-3 win over UW-Eau Claire at home on Oct. 11, 2014. The win improved the Pointers to 5-0 for the first time since 2007.
The Pointers have won 20 of the last 27 meetings since 1988, including five of the last seven since 2008.
Since 1966, UW-Stevens Point is 15-9 at home against UW-Eau Claire. The Pointers have won 10 of the last 13 meetings at home since 1989.
WIAC OPENERSUW-Stevens Point is 4-6 in its last 10 WIAC openers but have won the last two. Both wins have been over UW-River Falls, as the Pointers topped the Falcons 17-14 on the road last season and 47-14 at home in 2013.
This is the second season in a row that the Pointers are playing the Blugolds in their WIAC home opener after last season's 30-3 win. UW-Stevens Point is 7-3 in its last 10 WIAC home openers and two of the wins have been against UW-Eau Claire.
KICKERS BEWAREWilliams and Almonte are the top-two kickoff returners in the WIAC through four weeks. Williams leads the way, averaging 34.1 yards on seven returns and his 82-yard return for a touchdown is the only kickoff return touchdown in the WIAC so far this season. Almonte ranks second with an average of 29.4 yards on seven returns with a long of 41 yards.
As a team, UW-Stevens Point leads the conference by averaging 27.8 yards per kickoff return. The average is 4.5 yards more than second-place UW-Whitewater, which only has six returns. For comparison, the Pointers averaged 20.6 yards per kickoff return last season.
Williams' 82-yard return for a touchdown at Finlandia was UW-Stevens Point's first kickoff return touchdown since
Anthony Aker, now an assistant on the UWSP coaching staff, returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown in a 45-24 win over UW-Platteville on Nov. 13, 2010.
SOSINSKY NEARS MILESTONESenior wide receiver
Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) is just four yards shy of 2,000 receiving yards for his career. He has 140 receptions for 1,996 yards and 16 touchdowns at UW-Stevens Point.
Sosinsky leads the WIAC in most receiving categories, including receptions (18), receiving yards (379), receiving touchdowns (4), yards per catch (21.1) and yards per game (126.3). He is the only conference receiver to average over 85.0 yards a game through the air.
ALMONTE BIG PLAYSAlmonte has recorded a touchdown run of at least 50 yards in each of the last two weeks. He had a 54-yard touchdown run in the 34-31 win over Coe and a 68-yard scoring burst at Finlandia.
The sophomore has 199 yards on just 17 carries this season, good for an average of 11.7 yards per rush. Among qualified rushers, only UW-Oshkosh's Zach Kasuboski has a higher yards-per-carry average (13.3).
Four of Almonte's five career touchdowns have come on runs of at least 29 yards and three have been at least 50 yards.
