STEVENS POINT, Wis. – For the second consecutive year, the UW-Stevens Point football team opens its season against Albion, taking on the Britons at 6 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Sept. 5 at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium in Albion.



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ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | Home | Roster | Schedule | Stats

UW-Stevens Point won its opening five games of last season, including a Homecoming victory over No. 5 North Central (Ill.), and went on to finish the season 7-3 overall and 4-3 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play.

The Pointers return 51 players from last season, including seven starters on both offense and defense. UWSP was picked fourth in the WIAC preseason poll, behind UW-Whitewater, UW-Platteville and UW-Oshkosh.

Quarterback Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton), wide receiver Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) and running back De'Juan Wright lead the offensive returners.

Larson threw for 1,535 yards and 12 touchdowns in seven games before being sidelined with an injury. Sosinsky was a Second Team All-WIAC pick after leading the conference in receiving yards per game (93.5) and hauling in a team-high six touchdowns. Wright led the team with 642 rushing yards and five scores last year.

UWSP has its top three receivers back, as Jared Pankow (Mosinee, WI/D.C. Everest) and Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/Wausau East) return. Paul Swartz (Burlington, WI/Wilmot) and Reed Lehman (Edgar, WI/Edgar) each return at tight end.

Along the offensive line, the Pointers return two starters in Taylor Lucas (Brookfield, WI/East) and Connor Selvey (Elkhorn, WI/Elkhorn), who will be joined by Adam Prince (Elkhorn, WI/Elkhorn Area), Tim Puralewski (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) and Adam Decker (Kronenwetter, WI/D.C. Everest).

The Pointers bring back three starters in the secondary, led by Second Team All-WIAC selection Deion Jones (Racine, WI/Horlick), who led the WIAC with seven interceptions last season. UWSP's secondary finished the regular season with 22 interceptions, the second-most of any team in the nation in 2014.

UW-Stevens Point also brings back a pair of talented defensive ends in Aaron Karlen (Edgar, WI/Edgar) and Dan Brown (Pewaukee, WI/Pewaukee). Karlen was a D3football.com Third Team All-American last season after recording 8.5 sacks and five forced fumbles, while Brown was an Honorable Mention All-WIAC selection.

Other defensive starters are projected to be Adam Wachowiak (Stevens Point, WI/SPASH) and Jordon Denfeld (Two Rivers, WI/Two Rivers) at defensive tackle, John Kontowicz (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls), Justin Dentici (Waukesha, WI/Catholic Memorial) and Brad Birkhauser (Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Assumption) at linebacker, Mike Longmeyer (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) and Matt Gaffney (Menasha, WI/Menasha) at safety and AJ Harris (St. Petersburg, FL/St. Petersburg) at corner. Longmeyer is transitioning from corner to safety.

Kicker Jesse VerVelde connected on 10-of-13 field goals last season and is back for his senior season. The 10 made field goals were tied for the most by any WIAC kicker last season. Alex Malueg (Green Bay, WI/Bay Port) and Nick Schroeder (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) are competing for the starting punting job.

Tom Journell is in his fourth season as the head coach at UW-Stevens Point and has a 14-16 career record at UWSP. The Pointers have improved their record each season under Journell, improving from 2-8 in 2012 to 5-5 in 2013 to 7-3 in 2014. Prior to becoming the head coach at UWSP, Journell spent four seasons as the Pointers' defensive coordinator. Journell was the head coach at Elmhurst from 2004-07 and compiled a 22-18 overall record.

ABOUT ALBION | Home | Roster | Schedule | Stats

Last season, Albion lost its first two games but rebounded to win six of its last eight to post a 6-4 record. The Britons went 4-2 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play, including wins in their final three games, and finished in second place, one game behind Adrian. Albion led the MIAA in scoring at 42.5 points per game last season.

The Britons were picked second in the MIAA Preseason Poll. Adrian topped the poll, followed closely by Albion, Olivet and Trine, which were separated by just one point.

Albion's Dominic Bona returns for his fourth year as the Britons' starting quarterback this fall. Last year, Bona was a Second Team All-MIAA pick after throwing for 2,674 yards and 29 touchdowns. The 29 touchdowns ranked in a tie for 10th nationally. Bona set school records for completions (227) and attempts (369) in a season, as well as tying the record for touchdown passes in a game (six vs. Aurora on Nov. 11).

The Britons also return running backs Mike Czarnecki and Colin Parks, who combined for 1,946 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, while averaging 6.9 yards per carry. Czarnecki was a First Team All-MIAA pick and totaled a MIAA-best 1,119 yards and seven touchdowns, while Parks scored 14 times and racked up 827 yards.

Albion graduated four of its top-five tacklers from last season. Their leading returning tackler is junior corner Anthony Waite, who totaled 72 tackles in 2014. Senior defensive lineman Dave Van Ittersum tied for the team lead with 4.5 sacks a year ago.

Craig Rundle became Albion's winningest football coach as he completed his 18th season with the Britons in 2014. Rundle has won 106 games and six MIAA championships and has led the Britons to NCAA Division III Playoff appearances in 1998, 2005, 2011 and 2013.

POINTERS-BRITONS SERIES NOTES

UW-Stevens Point is a perfect 3-0 all-time against Albion. The Pointers and Britons first met in 2010.

The Pointers and Britons are meeting for the second consecutive season opener. Last season, Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) accounted for four touchdowns in his UWSP debut as UW-Stevens Point topped Albion 42-31 on Sept. 6 at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.

This is just the second time UWSP has made the seven-hour trip to Albion. On Sept. 24, 2011, the Pointers held the Britons scoreless after the first quarter in a 14-3 victory at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium.

In the first meeting, UW-Stevens Point scored 38 first-half points on its way to a 59-14 home win on Sept. 25, 2010 in what is believed to be the first Pink Game by an NCAA football team.

Albion is the only MIAA team that the Pointers have ever played.

POINTERS IN SEASON OPENERS

UW-Stevens Point is 60-43-8 all-time in season openers dating back to 1895.

The Pointers are 9-6 in their last 15 season openers since 2000, including a 3-3 mark in road openers.

Under head coach Tom Journell, the Pointers are 2-1 in season openers. In the three openers under Journell, UWSP has averaged 40.7 points per game. 

HEADING HOME

Two UW-Stevens Point players will return to their home state of Michigan for this week's game.

Senior linebacker Tyler Roberts (Ontonagon, MI/Ontonagon ) is from Ontonagon and freshman wide receiver Kevin Lane (Wakefield, MI/Wakefield-Marenisco) hails from Wakefield. Both towns are located over nine hours from Albion in the Upper Peninsula.

STARTING STRONG

UW-Stevens Point has won five of its last six non-conference games over the last two seasons, including three wins last season.

The Pointers averaged 417.3 yards of offense in their three non-conference games last season, including a season-best 454 yards against Albion.

The Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) - Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) connection was a key part of UWSP's strong offensive start to the season. Larson threw for an average of 275 yards and two touchdowns a game in the three non-conference games, while Sosinsky had at least five catches, 100 yards and a touchdown in each of the three contests.