STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point football team (4-2, 1-2) took an early lead and cruised past visiting UW-Eau Claire (1-5, 0-3) in a Homecoming victory, 26-3.
The Pointers ground game picked up 266 yards in the game, led by freshman
ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran), who gained 147 yards on 20 rushing attempts. Fellow freshman
Jahi Stigall (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep) picked up 91 yards on nine carries.
Sophomore
Matt Urmanski (Edgar, Wis./Edgar) completed nine of 21 passes for a total of 109 yards. He hit senior
Jerry Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Watertown) four times for 41 yards.
Senior
Tyler Raschke (New London, Wis./New London) led the UWSP defense with nine tackles, including 2.5 for loss. Cornerback
Omarri Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) added six takedowns in the secondary.
The Pointers took advantage of an early Blugolds' miscue recording a safety after UWEC snapped the ball over the punter's head and out of the back of the end zone for a 2-0 lead.
On the ensuing UWSP possession, the Pointers Urmanski completed a 30-yard pass to
Connor Gajda (Sturgeon Bay, WIs./Sturgeon Bay) among a plethora of rushes. Urmanski finished the drive with a two-yard run to pay dirt for an 8-0 advantage.
The Blugolds got on the board in the second quarter. UWEC put a couple of big rushes together to drive deep in Pointers' territory. UWSP stood tall and stopped the drive at the six-yard line forcing a Blugolds' field goal.
Later in the second quarter,
Darin Ward (Fond du Lac, Wis./St. Mary's Springs) rumbled for 47 yards to open the UWSP drive.
ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran) tacked on 14 yards on the ground over the next two plays, but back-to-back incompletions in the end zone forced a
Hayden Neidert (Waupaca, Wis./Waupaca) field goal.
Williams kick-started the final UWSP drive of the first half rushes of 11 and 21 yards on back-to-back plays. The drive reached the UWEC one-yard line as time was winding down. On third and goal, it appeared that Urmanski had pushed into the end zone, but the officials marked him short of the goal line. As the final seconds ticked off, Urmanski got the fourth down play off just in time and dove in for a touchdown and a 17-3 halftime lead.
The lone score of the third quarter came off the foot of Neidert. On the second UWSP drive of the half, Williams picked up 38 yards on the first three runs. The drive stalled at the UWEC 11-yard line and Neidert converted the field goal.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Williams capped a six-play drive with a nine-yard run for a touchdown.
The Pointers head to UW-Stout next Saturday (Oct. 21) for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff in Menomonie. UWSP returns home on Oct. 28 for a 1:00 p.m. matchup against UW-Whitewater.
