#10 Pioneers beat host Blugolds 34-14

Tune into any football pregame show and inevitably the announcers talk about trap games, those contests where a ranked team may face an upset or an unexpected fight to the finish.

Although no official definition of a trap game exists, try this on for size: 10th-ranked UW-Platteville trying to bounce back from its first loss, playing a team with a losing record for the first time all season, hitting the road to play in a stadium with a raucous crowd as close to the sidelines as anywhere in the league, against a UW-Eau Claire squad anxious to make a statement that its rebuilding process is on the track, and with a game against a 5-2 UW-La Crosse on the horizon.

Consider the trap avoided, as the Pioneers beat the host Blugolds 34-14, moving to 6-1 overall and remaining tied for second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with UW-Whitewater at 3-1.

Jack Eddy passed for five touchdowns to two receivers, and the Pioneers rode a 21-0 halftime lead to the victory. Tim Jansen scored three times, including TD receptions of 26 and 4 yards that gave the Pioneers a 14-0 advantage. Mark Johnson scored the first of two touchdown receptions in the second quarter on a 72-yard pass for the 21-0 halftime lead. Jansen (30 yards) and Johnson (18) pulled in fourth-quarter scoring receptions to secure the win.

The Pioneers out-gained the Blugolds 442-263 and survived a four-turnover game. Eddy threw for 351 yards, with Johnson, the WIAC's leading receiver, catching 11 passes for 225 yards. Three of Jensen's four receptions went for scores, as he finished with four catches for 98 yards. 

J.T DenHartog ran for one score and threw for another, and Brian Kulaga rushed for 93 yards for the Blugolds (1-6, 0-4). 

Chandler Crary had 10 tackles for the Pioneer defense, which stopped UWEC three times on fourth down.

The Pioneers play host to UW-La Crosse (5-2, 2-2) Saturday at 1 p.m.