No. 16 Pioneers dominate Blugolds 43-8 in road victory

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The No. 16 ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team combined four dominate quarters while junior quarterback Colin Schuetz passed for 29 unanswered points in the 43-8 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday afternoon in Carson Park.

Offensively, the Pioneers (6-1, 3-1 WIAC) were led by Schuetz who passed for 314 yards, four touchdowns, and ran in for one of his own to start off the scoring. On defense, the Pioneers held UW-Eau Claire (3-4, 1-3 WIAC) scoreless in three quarters and intercepted the Blugolds twice all while allowing UW-Eau Claire inside the red zone just twice in the WIAC competition.

The Pioneers found the scoreboard first with a 10 play, 74-yard drive that finished with Schuetz running in for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter.

Freshman Mitchell McNutt owned the next UW-Platteville possession as he combined a 34-yard run with a seven-yard carry, and finished the five play, 55-yard drive with a one-yard plunge for the Pioneers' second touchdown and the 14-0 lead with 12:20 left in the first half.

UW-Eau Claire' conference leading Austin Belot broke through and rushed for a 54-yard gain to open up the Blugolds' opportunity for Conrad Bolz to run four yards for what would be UW-Eau Claire's lone touchdown.  The Blugolds were successful in their two-point conversion and narrowed the Pioneers' lead to 14-8 with 11:24 remaining in the second quarter.

The teams exchanged possession four times before Schuetz completed six consecutive passes and finished with a 33-yard pass for a touchdown to junior Donald Allender to extend the lead to 21-8 with just 1:30 remaining in the half.

In the second half, the defense stopped the Blugolds on 4^th and 1 at the UW-Platteville 41 yardline.  Schuetz and the offense capitalized on the turnover on downs and combined four plays for 59 yards including  a 40-yard pass from Schuetz to senior Tyler Knigge for a  touchdown, and the Pioneers led the Blugolds 29-8 with 7:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Schuetz found Allender once again to start off the fourth quarter with a four-yard pass and touchdown extending the lead to 36-8 with 14:57 remaining in the game.

UW-Eau Claire's Josiah Johnson's first pass of the next possession was intercepted by senior Tyler Reinhardt and returned three yards to the Blugolds' 38-yardline. Schutz fired off a 38-yard pass and touchdown right away to freshman Brandt Stare to tack on to the Pioneers' advantage and UW-Platteville led 43-8 with 14:30 left in the game.

The Pioneers intercepted the Blugolds once more when freshman Ashton Steinike intercepted Tritian Bradley at the UW-Platteville 2-yardline with 1:09 remaining in play. Sophmore Caleb Hanson took a knee twice to give the Pioneers their third conference victory of the season.

Overall, the Pioneers tallied 405 yards total offense to the Blugolds' 329 yards and converted 6-of-13 (46%) attempts on third down.

Schuetz completed 27-of-37 attempts for 314 yards and passed for four touchdowns while UW-Eau Claire's Josiah Johnson completed 19-of-31 attempts for 183 yards and one interception.

UW-Platteville's receivers combined for 314 yards as Stare had a team high 10 receptions for 124 yards and one touchdown while Knigge followed with seven catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Allender tacked on another 55 yards off four receptions for two touchdowns.

The Pioneers added 91 yards on the ground as McNutt led with a team high 48 yards and a touchdown off seven carries.

Freshman Andrew Schweigert was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra point attempts to bring his season total to 32-of-34.

On defense, senior Antonio-Jose Ramos recorded a team high eight tackles with one tackle for loss of seven yards while junior Nate Yencer was right behind with seven tackles. Senior Reinhardt added six tackles to his interception while freshman linebacker Colton Ingram recorded the Pioneers' lone sack for a loss of two yards.

UW-Eau Claire was held to just 4-of-16 (25%) on third down attempts and 1-of-6 (17%) on fourth down conversions.

The Pioneers are ranked No. 16 nationally in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll. No. 3 UW-Whitewater is the only other WIAC school ranked in both polls.

The Pioneers will return to action and Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 2 when the Titans of UW-Oshkosh roll into town with kickoff set for 1 p.m.

-- Photo by Chico La Barbera