PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point football team (4-6, 1-6) got on the board first, but were unable to hold the lead in a 34-16 season-ending defeat at UW-Platteville (7-3, 4-3) to close out the regular season on Saturday. UWSP turned to ball over six times in the loss.
Sophomore quarterback
Mitchel Neubauer (Brussels, Wis./Southern Door) took every snap under center. He completed 15 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown.
Junior
Steve Herra (Rockford, Ill./Boylan) caught nine passes for 90 yards. Senior
Jerry Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Watertown) caught seven passes for 82 yards and hauled in a 46-yard touchdown reception in his final game in a Pointers' uniform.
Freshman running back
ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran) gained 51 yards on 11 carries. Fellow freshman
Jahi Stigall (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep) carried four times for 27 yards.
Senior
Kevin Sanchez (Jefferson, Wis./Jefferson) had a big day on defense. He picked off a pass, picked up a fumble and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown. He added four tackles on the day.
UWSP took advantage of an early Pioneers' miscue. UWP went for it on fourth down and turned the ball over to the Pointers at the UWP 19 yard line. The Pointers turned the gift of field position into a field goal for an early 3-0 lead.
On the next series, the Pioneers capped a five-play drive with a 66-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-3 lead. Late in the quarter, Sanchez intercepted a Jack Eddy pass to stop a UWP drive.
The Pioneers dominated the early portion of the second half scoring a pair of touchdowns, one benefitted by a pair of UWSP turnovers, to push the lead to 20-3.
In the middle of the second quarter,
ShamaJ Williams (Racine, Wis./Lutheran) ran the ball three-straight times to get UWSP to midfield. Two plays later, Neubauer hit
Jerry Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Watertown) for a 46-yard touchdown.
Later in the quarter, the Pioneers drove into UWSP territory.
Griffen Davis (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) forced a fumble and Sanchez scooped it up for a 67-yard return to pull the Pointers within 20-16.
On the first play of the second half, UWP picked off a Neubauer pass, the first of three UWP takeaways in the third quarter. The Pointers were able to hold the Pioneers off the board in the quarter and headed to the fourth down by just one score.
That changed on the first drive of the fourth quarter. The Pioneers marched 63 yards on nine plays to take a two-score lead. After a turnover on downs, UWP put the game out of reach with seven-play, 45-yard drive.
After a promising 3-0 start to the season, injuries derailed the Pointers' momentum and UWSP dropped six of the final seven games of the year.
