PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The 13th-ranked UW-Stevens Point football team could not overcome a 24-0 halftime deficit in a 31-13 loss at 14th-ranked UW-Platteville in a matchup of top-15 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) teams on Saturday afternoon at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.
 
Box Score
 
UW-Platteville (5-1, 3-0 WIAC) dealt UW-Stevens Point (5-1, 2-0 WIAC) its first loss of the season by outgaining the Pointers 459-186, including 313-62 in the first half.
 
After a field goal on the opening drive of the game and a 3-yard scoring pass from Bryce Corrigan to Mitch Munda in the first quarter, Andy Puccini, the WIAC's leading rusher, had touchdown runs of 1 and 23 yards in the second to give UW-Platteville a 24-0 halftime lead.
 
With four second-half comeback wins already this season, UW-Stevens Point got back in the game with two touchdowns in a little over three minutes. Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) connected with Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/Wausau East) for an 11-yard touchdown with 2:39 left in the third quarter to get the Pointers on the board.
 
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Larson hit Jared Pankow (Mosinee, WI/D.C. Everest) for a 35-yard touchdown over the middle, leaving the score at 24-13 following a missed extra point. The score was set up by a 28-yard punt return by Deion Jones (Racine, WI/Horlick) that gave the Pointers the ball at the UWP 17-yard line.
 
The Pioneers then fumbled the ensuing kickoff but the Pointers were unable to capitalize, as the UWP defense held UWSP to a missed field-goal attempt.
 
UW-Platteville then re-established a three-score lead on a 68-yard pass from Corrigan to Russell Martin. Martin caught nine passes for a career-high 215 yards in the game.
 
Trevor Whitehead added nine receptions for 92 yards, as Corrigan finished 26-of-39 for 318 yards and two touchdowns. Puccini rushed 32 times for 122 yards and the pair of first-half scores.
 
Larson completed 13-of-32 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. The sophomore also ran 16 times and fumbled twice. As a team, UW-Stevens Point was held to 25 yards on 39 attempts in the game.
 
The UW-Stevens Point defense held UW-Platteville to less than 150 yards in the second half. Jake Luedtke (Sussex, WI/Sussex-Hamilton) tied UW-Platteville's Andrew Belken with a game-high 13 tackles, while John Kontowicz (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) added 11.
 
UW-Stevens Point looks to return to winning ways with a home WIAC game against UW-La Crosse on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.