PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – A fourth-down, four-yard touchdown pass from Jack Eddy to Russell Martin gave No. 12 UW-Platteville a 30-27 victory over the UW-Stevens Point football team in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Stadium.
Box Score Eddy found Martin on the right sideline to cap an 11-play, 75-yard drive that gave UW-Platteville (4-1, 1-1 WIAC) a lead with 6:04 remaining. UW-Stevens Point (3-2, 1-1 WIAC) returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield but the Pioneers' Jason Flagg intercepted a
Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) pass with 4:51 to go.
UW-Platteville then ran the clock down
Aaron Karlen (Edgar, WI/Edgar) forced a fumble that
Dan Brown (Pewaukee, WI/Pewaukee) recovered to give UW-Stevens Point a chance with four seconds left. However, the Pointers' desperation lateral play saw the ball go out of play to end the game.
Prior to the Eddy-Martin touchdown, the Pointers took a 27-23 lead on a 17-yard touchdown from Larson to
Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) with 8:46 remaining. The touchdown capped an eight-play, 69-yard drive after the Pioneers had taken a 23-21 lead on a 23-yard Michael Pratt field goal. The score was the duo's sixth touchdown connection of the season.
Larson finished the game 19-for-34 for 219 yards and threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. Sosinsky hauled in five passes for 57 yards and the fourth-quarter score.
Eddy completed 30-of-47 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns and two picks. Quinn Buschbacher and Patrick Sheehan each had nine receptions for over 100 yards and a touchdown for the Pioneers. Martin caught seven passes for 69 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
Larson opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown to
Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/East) with 2:33 into the first quarter. The score was the sixth touchdown pass from Larson to Taylor this season and was set up by a 35-yard pass from Larson to Sosinsky on the Pointers' first play from scrimmage.
Christian Almonte (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) had given UWSP good field position with a 28-yard punt return.
The Pioneers tied the game with a 14-play, 79-yard drive early in the second quarter, culminating in a five-yard pass from Eddy to Dan Arnold. The hosts then took a 14-7 lead on a 14-yard scoring strike from Eddy to Buschbacher midway through the second quarter.
UW-Stevens Point responded with a 14-play, 71-yard drive that took nearly six minutes to tie the game at 14-14.
Britton Vernon (Stillman Valley, IL/Stillman Valley) capped the scoring march with a one-yard touchdown plunge, his fourth score of the season.
The Pointers' defense forced two turnovers in the first half, as Michael Longmeyer had an interception and
John Kontowicz (Menomonee Falls, WI/Menomonee Falls) forced a fumble that
Tanner Beaman (Phelps, WI/Northland Pines) recovered late in the half after the Pioneers drove into the red zone.
Jamonte Robinson (Hillside, IL/Proviso West) added a third-quarter interception, the first of his collegiate career.
UW-Stevens Point took a 21-14 lead midway through the third quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by
DeJuan Wright (St. Petersburg, FL/Keswick Christian), his fifth of the year. Wright ran for a game-high 61 yards on 14 attempts.
UW-Platteville got within a point heading to the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Eddy to Sheehan but the ensuing extra point was no good.
The Pioneers outgained the Pointers 451-327 in the game and had a 25-16 edge in first downs. UW-Platteville was 11-for-19 on third down, compared to 4-for-13 for UW-Stevens Point.
Blake Lehman (Edgar, WI/Edgar) led the UW-Stevens Point defense with 11 tackles and pair of pass breakups. Kontowicz had 10 stops and a forced fumble, while Karlen had three tackles for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Senior kicker
Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) became UW-Stevens Point's all-time leading scoring kicker with his extra point on the Pointers' second touchdown of the game, his 186th-career point.
UW-Stevens Point continues a run of three-straight games against ranked WIAC teams with a game at No. 15 UW-Oshkosh (4-1, 2-0 WIAC) on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m. The Titans snapped No. 1 UW-Whitewater's 36-game winning streak with a 10-7 win over the Warhawks this afternoon.
