ALBION, Mich. – In a game that featured 1,222 yards of combined offense, the UW-Stevens Point football team fell 65-52 at Albion in the season-opener for both teams on Saturday evening at Sprankle-Sprandel Stadium.
Box Score The 117 points UW-Stevens Point (0-1) and Albion (1-0) combined to score are the most in a game in school history. The Britons finished with 682 yards, including 386 on the ground, while the Pointers totaled 403 of their 540 yards through the air.
The Pointers held a 45-44 lead with 11:21 remaining following a 25-yard touchdown pass from
Kyle Larson (Clayton, WI/Clayton) to
Logan Taylor (Wausau, WI/Wausau East), the second scoring connection of the game between the pair. However, Albion responded with a 10-play, 90-yard scoring drive and scored the next 21 points to pull away late.
Mike Czarnecki ran 14 times for 240 yards and three touchdowns for the Britons, including scoring runs of 65 and 92 yards in the first half. His six-yard score with 2:57 remaining gave Albion the lead for good.
Collin Parks ran for 135 yards and a score on 12 carries for Albion, which averaged 11.5 yards per carry as a team. Dominic Bona was 24-of-42 for 296 yards and four touchdowns, while Alandt had 10 receptions for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Larson set career-highs in passing yards (389) and touchdowns (5) for UW-Stevens Point but was picked off three times, twice in the first quarter.
Matt Sosinsky (Princeton, WI/Princeton) posted career-bests in receiving yards (195) and touchdowns (3) on nine catches, while Taylor caught nine balls for 81 yards and two scores.
De'Juan Wright rushed 18 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Pointers. The 540 yards of offense for UWSP were the team's most since the Pointers had 582 in the 2013 season opener against Rockford on Sept. 7, 2013. The 52 points were UW-Stevens Point's most since a 55-14 win at Dubuque on Sept. 15, 2012.
Neither team led by more than seven points until Bona found Chris McCall for a 46-yard score with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter to put the Britons up 44-31. UW-Stevens Point came right back to take the lead on an 11-yard run by Wright and Taylor's second score of the game.
UW-Stevens Point ran 94 plays in the game, controlled the ball for 35:27 and was 6-for-6 in the red zone but was hurt by three turnovers. One of the three turnovers was a Jeremy Shephard 40-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:08 to go.
UW-Stevens Point has a bye week before hosting Coe on Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. for the team's Pink Game and Spud Bowl. The Pointers defeated the Kohawks 37-21 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa last season.
