Pioneers surge past UW-Eau Claire, 50-26

UW-Platteville scored 27 fourth-quarter points and surged past host UW-Eau Claire 50-26 Saturday in Carson Park. The 14th-ranked Pioneers improved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 

Kyle Whitman rushed for 202 yards, Tom Kelly passed for 329, and Dan Arnold caught 6 passes for 208 yards. According to available records, it is the first time the Pioneers have ever had a 200-yard rusher, a 200-yard receiver and a 300-yard passer in the same game.

The winless Blugolds came out fired up on their Senior Day, determined to shine a light on a tough season. UWEC grabbed a 23-21 lead on a J.T, Denhartog 1-yard touchdown run with 3:35 to play in the third quarter, but the Pioneers blocked the extra point. Andre Cooper scooped up the ball and raced 98 yards for a defensive conversion, knotting the score at 23.

From there on it was all Pioneers, as Whitman scored the game-winning score on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 14:43 to play, and Kelly salted it away with his third, fourth and fifth touchdown passes of the game. He hit Arnold from 56 and 83 yards out and Quinn Buschbacher for 50 yards. 

Buschbacher finished with two touchdowns, and Patrick Sheehan added a receiving score. Whitman totaled two TDs on the ground.

Denhartog paced the Blugolds with 190 yards passing, including a scoring strike to Matthew Knapp, and 136 yards on the ground. Carl Lightfoot added a score on a 48-yard return after a blocked punt.

Andrew Belken and Devon Vance each had 7 tackles for UW-Platteville, with Alex Johnson recording 2 tackles for losses, Jacob Forney 2 sacks and Logan Emendorfer an interception.

The Pioneers close their regular season Saturday vs. UW-La Crosse at 1 p.m. in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

By Paul Erickson, Director, University Information and Communications