UW-Platteville Begins 2011 Season with 38-3 Win Over Buena Vista

University of Wisconsin-Platteville extended its winning streak in home openers under head coach Mike Emendorfer to 13 in a row with a 38-3 win over Buena Vista on a rainy Pioneer Stadium on Saturday.

Regardless of the rain, it was a potent balanced offensive attack for the Pioneers, who passed for 185 yards and ran for 234 yards in the win. A key cog behind the balanced attack was junior quarterback Nick Anderson, who went 14-for-21 through the air with three touchdown passes and a team-leading nine carries for 72 yards.

To supplement the offense, the Pioneer defense held Buena Vista to 272 yards of total offense, 69 of it coming on the ground; plus, 63 of it coming on a pass completion. Anchoring the defense was junior Nick Snyder who had eight tackles, including 3.5 for minus yardage and a forced fumble. As a whole, the Pioneer defense forced three BVU turnovers on the afternoon.

Anderson led the Pioneers down the field on the first drive of the season, culminating with an 8-yard touchdown pass completion to Jake Wiederholt. A bulk of the work was done by Lee Vlasak, who set up the three touchdowns and UWP took advantage of a Buena Vista personal foul to set up first and goal.

Trailing 7-0, Buena Vista took advantage of a short punt and penalty by the Pioneers before Ross Mueller picked off a pass at the 3-yard line to halt a drive. The Pioneers capitalized on it with an eight play, 97-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown reception by sophomore Aaron Loferski from Anderson.

Next, the Beavers cut into the Pioneers lead with a 22-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 14-3. The Pioneers answered when Lee Vlasak scored his first touchdown of the season to stretch the lead to 21-3. In the drive, Anderson found Darin Blaser four times to march UW-Platteville down the field.

The tandem of Anderson and Blaser worked together, on the next possession, when the two hooked up for a 27-yard touchdown reception to stretch the lead to 28-3 with 1:36 left in the opening half. The Pioneers added a 20-yard field goal early in the third quarter by Zach Litchfield and a Ryan McWerthy interception in the fourth quarter set up a Chad Roscoe touchdown from three yards out for the final margin.

Next, UW-Platteville will travel to UW-Stevens Point on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. The contest between the Pioneers and the Pointers will not count towards the WIAC Conference standings.