Pioneers excel in all phases of 26-7 victory

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville team excelled in all three phases of the game in defeating St. Francis 26-7 Saturday in the Pioneers' home opener.

Offensively, the Pioneers used four Tom Kelly touchdown passes, and defensively they held the Fighting Saints scoreless for more than 58 minutes. As impressive as those performances were, it was a special teams' highlight reel play that set the tone for the 10th-ranked Pioneers.

Dillon Villhauer fielded a first-quarter punt on the Pioneer 16 and played his own video game, weaving from the left hash to the right sideline, cutting back to the left hashes after about 30 yards and making it all the Saints' 6 before finally being brought down. On the next play, Kelly connected with Dan Arnold for the 6-yard score in the right corner of the end zone.

Kelly hit Seth Kaufman in traffic for a 17-yard second-quarter score and a 13-0 halftime lead. Arnold scored his second TD on an 11-yard pass with 1:20 left in the third quartern, and Patrick Sheehan added his own 11-yard scoring reception with 3:07 left in the game.

The Saints' stopped the Pioneers' 2016 scoreless streak at 118+ minutes when Michael Johnson scored on a 2-yard run with 1:26 remaining in the game.

The 2-0 Pioneers, who shut out George Fox 35-0 in the season opener, held St. Francis to 49 rushing and 295 total yards. UW-Platteville forced seven three-and-outs on the Saints' first nine possessions. The defense also batted down 7 passes and forced 3 turnovers. Patrick Swanson and Josh Mackie each made interceptions, and Jacob Forney recovered a fumble.

Kelly finished 17-34 passing for 176 yards and the 4 scores. Kyle Whitman added 91 yards rushing on 30 carries against a St. Francis team determined to take away the deep throws to the Pioneers' talented wideouts.

Don Butkus threw for 246 yards to lead St. Francis, which began the year ranked 14th in the national NAIA poll but dropped to 0-2.

The Pioneers are off until Sept. 24 when they play their final non-conference game, traveling to Sheboygan to face Lakeland. 

By Paul Erickson, director, UW-Platteville Communications, 608.342.1194, pr@uwplatt.edu