Pioneers down Thomas More 41-10

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team defeated visiting Thomas More University (Crestville Hill, Kentucky) on a rainy afternoon in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The Pioneers (2-0 overall) dominated the first half as the defense held the Saints (1-3 overall) scoreless while the offense piled up 34 points before the half.  Thomas More came into Saturday's matchup averaging 146 yards rushing per game, but the Pioneers held the Saints to a minimal 51 yards on the day while the Pioneers finished with a 362-297 advantage in total offense.

Junior quarterback Colin Schuetz passed 18-for-27 for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Wyatt Thompson had 14 carries for 96 yards and one touchdown while senior wide receiver Tyler Knigge combined six receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown with a 39-yard long reception.

Senior safety Tyler Reinhardt led the Pioneers defense with 11 tackles. Senior Walter Ollie totaled seven tackles, a sack for a loss of eight yards and two broken up passes. Sophomore Travis Klassy recorded the Pioneers' lone interception while the defense as a whole recovered three-of-four Thomas More fumbles and forced the Saints to a 35% (6 of 17) conversion on third down.

The Pioneers special teams started the momentum in the first quarter when senior Travis Hofslien recovered Thomas More's fumble on Hunter Grams' 34-yard punt at the Saints' own eight-yard line. Schuetz ran into the endzone two plays later to put the Pioneers on the scoreboard first.

The following Pioneer drive, Schuetz found junior Donald Allender for an eight-yard reception to put the Pioneers up 14-0 with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

Later in the first half, Schuetz combined seven plays for 80 yards and found Allender once again for a 25-yard reception to extend the lead to 21 with 6:36 remaining in the half. Three minutes later, Thompson rushed for 36 yards to extend the advantage to 28-0.

As the final minutes of the half ticked away, a huge stop by senior Jordan Zilbar for a loss of six yards on 4^th and 1 at the Saints' 41-yard line set the Pioneers up for a 24-yard pass from Schuetz to Knigge to send the Saints into halftime facing a 34-0 deficit after a failed Pioneer extra point attempt.

The Pioneers kicked off the second half and the Saints scored off a 17-yard pass from Justin Post to Da'marco Canty to put the Saints on the board 34-7 three minutes into the half.  The hope of a comeback was short-lived for the Saints when Allender rushed for his third touchdown of the day on 2nd-goal to give the Pioneers a 41-7 lead with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

Alexander Haley went on to complete a 29-yard field goal for the Saints giving what would become the final score of 41-10.

Freshman Andrew Schweigert went five-of-six on extra points while Hunter Grams combined five punts for 184 yards with a 48-yard long.

As part of halftime, UW-Platteville had a special recognition of the 2019 Hall of Fame class following the induction ceremony earlier Saturday.  The 2019 inductees are Barry Braganza '91, football, Andy Paulsen '03, track and field, Tyler Selk '03, basketball, and Corey Stelljes '04, track and field.

Next week, the Pioneers will hit the road for the first away game of the season when they travel to Lakeland University on Saturday, Sept. 28 for the night game scheduled for 6 p.m. at Taylor Memorial Field.