STEVENS POINT, Wis. – After trailing 28-7 late in the second quarter, the UW-Stevens Point football team staged a second-half comeback but came up eight points short in a 35-27 loss to sixth-ranked UW-Whitewater on Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.
 
Box Score | Photo Gallery
 
UW-Stevens Point (3-4, 1-3 WIAC) got within eight points with 1:05 remaining following a 22-yard touchdown pass from Cody Nuernberg (Kewaskum, WI/Kewaskum) to Jared Pankow (Mosinee, WI/D.C. Everest) and then recovered an onside kick after the kick hit the leg of a UW-Whitewater (6-1, 3-1 WIAC) player. However, Ryan Winske intercepted a Nuernberg pass on fourth and 24 with 37 seconds remaining to end the Pointers' comeback bid.
 
The Pointers trailed 28-13 after three quarters but got within one score with 9:24 remaining in the game on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Nuernberg to Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/East). The touchdown strike capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive to make the score 28-20.
 
UW-Whitewater reclaimed a two-score lead with 2:21 remaining on a 10-yard run by Jordan Ratliffe, his fourth rushing touchdown of the game. However, the Pointers came right back by covering 62 yards in five plays in 1:01 to give themselves a shot after the onside kick.
 
After a first-quarter injury sidelined Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton), Nuernberg went 21-for-39 for 332 yards and three touchdowns and three interceptions. The 332 yards were a career-high for the senior and marked his second-consecutive 300-yard performance against the Warhawks.
 
Nuernberg's favorite target was fellow senior Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton), who caught eight passes for a career-high 196 yards and a touchdown. The duo connected on an 86-yard touchdown to get the Pointers on the board with 4:31 remaining in the first half, making it 21-7 UW-Whitewater.
 
Sosinsky's 196 yards were one more than he had in the season opener at Albion and marked his fourth game this season with at least 100 yards and a touchdown. The 196-yard total is the most yards by a UWSP receiver since Theo Maglio had 201 yards against UW-La Crosse in 2012.
 
Jared Pankow (Mosinee, WI/D.C. Everest) and Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/East) each caught five passes for over 60 yards and a touchdown. The Pointers totaled 428 yards of offense, although the Warhawks held UWSP to 62 yards on 36 rushes. Sosinsky and Taylor each caught their seventh touchdowns of the season.
 
UW-Whitewater finished with an even 400 yards of offense, 268 of which came from quarterback Chris Nelson. Nelson was 11-for-12 for 216 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finished 15-for-22 for 268 yards and a score. Marcus Nelson caught five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Warhawks raced out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, following a pair of short first-quarter touchdown runs by Ratliffe and a 36-yard pass from Nelson to Marcus Hudson. The three touchdowns came on UW-Whitewater's first three drives of the game.
 
The UW-Whitewater defense recorded four interceptions in the game, led by two from Winske. The Warhawks also had three sacks and forced a pair of fumbles, although the Pointers recovered both.
 
UW-Stevens Point forced three fumbles of their own and recovered two, including strip sack by Aaron Karlen (Edgar, WI/Edgar) late in the first half that led to a Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) field goal on the final play of the half to make the halftime score 28-10.
 
Karlen tied Mike Longmeyer (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) for the team lead with nine tackles, including one and a half for a loss. Freshman Ryan Strick (Naprville, IL/Waubonsie Valley) had a career-high eight tackles, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. UW-Stevens Point held UW-Whitewater to 115 yards in the second half.
 
UW-Stevens Point hosts UW-La Crosse on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. at Community Stadium at Goerke Park. The Pointers won last season's meeting with the Eagles 24-17 at home.