STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) threw for 265 yards and matched his career-high with five touchdowns to lead the UW-Stevens Point football team to a 38-28 win over UW-Eau Claire in its Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener on Homecoming on Saturday afternoon at Community Stadium at Goerke Park.
 
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UW-Stevens Point (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) led 28-7 midway through the third quarter before UW-Eau Claire (0-4, 0-1 WIAC) got within a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. However, the Pointers scored the game's next 10 points to hold off the Blugolds.
 
Larson threw three of his five touchdown passes in the first half to help UW-Stevens Point to a 21-7 halftime lead. The junior connected with Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) from eight yards out to cap a seven-play, 84-yard drive on the first possession of the game to open the scoring.
 
UW-Eau Claire came right back with an 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 37-yard touchdown pass from JT Denhartog to Tyler Korth, making it 7-7. Larson then threw a pair of touchdowns to Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/East), a seven-yarder early in the second quarter and a 30-yarder with 1:00 remaining till halftime.
 
Midway through the third quarter, Larson tossed a 20-yard touchdown to Jared Pankow (Mosinee, WI/D.C. Everest) to give UW-Stevens Point its largest lead of the game at 28-7. UW-Eau Claire responded with an eight-yard touchdown from Denhartog to Matthew Knapp and a one-yard scoring run by Toure Wallace just four seconds into the fourth quarter.
 
Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) drilled a 27-yard field goal with 10:37 remaining to give the Pointers a two-score lead. The UWSP defense then forced a three-and-out and Larson led a four-play, 40-yard drive that resulted in his fifth touchdown of the day, a three-yard pass to Reed Lehman (Edgar, WI/Edgar).
 
With 5:00 remaining, Denhartog found Knapp from 16 yards out for the pair's second touchdown of the game. The Blugolds then failed to execute an onside kick and the Tanner Beaman (Phelps, WI/Northland Pines) forced a fumble recovered by Tyler Raschke (New London, WI/New London) in the final three minutes to ensure the victory.
 
Larson completed 19-of-27 passes on the day without an interception. Sosinsky posted his fourth 100-yard game of the season, finishing with eight receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown and went over 2,000 yards for his career. Taylor caught five passes for 51 yards and two scores, while Pankow had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown.
 
Britton Vernon (Stillman Valley, IL/Stillman Valley) recorded his first-career 100-yard rushing game, carrying the ball 18 times for 111 yards, including a 44-yard dash. UW-Stevens Point accumulated 426 yards of offense in the game, compared to 388 for UW-Eau Claire.
 
Denhartog was 22-for-38 for 286 yards and three touchdowns for the Blugolds. Knapp hauled in seven receptions for 98 yards and two scores, while Toure Wallace ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
 
With a field goal and five extra points, senior kicker Jesse Vervelde (Oostburg, WI/Oostburg) moved into second place in program history in points by a kicker (185) and is just one point behind Dave Schneider's program record. He also made the 100th extra point of his career in the game.
 
Raschke led the UW-Stevens Point defense with a career-high 10 tackles, while Mike Longmeyer (Manitowoc, WI/Lincoln) and Matt Gaffney (Menasha, WI/Menasha) each had eight. Carl Lightfoot paced the Blugolds with 12 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and a sack.
 
UW-Stevens Point travels to No. 14 UW-Platteville on Saturday, Oct. 10 for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The Pioneers suffered their first loss of the season 17-7 to top-ranked UW-Whitewater this afternoon.