
The UW-Eau Claire football team, coming off last week’s Homecoming win, tried to win another homecoming game, this time at UW-Stout on Saturday afternoon.
Down 14-6 in the fourth quarter, the Blugold’s two-minute drive came up short and Stout triumphed over Eau Claire, repaying the Blugolds for its loss at Carson Park last year.
With less than two minutes remaining and the Blugolds facing fourth down at their own 21-yard line, sophomore quarterback Kyle Paulson reeled off a 48-yard run to the Stout 31-yard line.
“Our receivers were covered up and I just tried running,” Paulson said. “I tried getting out of bounds and saw that I had an open field and I took off.”
But the Eau Claire drive ended four plays after Paulson’s run, when he threw a long pass that was a little too far for the stretching hands of senior wide receiver Matt Evensen. Stout was able to take two kneel-downs and end the game.
Stout jumped to an early 7-0 lead after a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Eau Claire held the Stout offense in check after that, allowing only 261 yards of total offense until a fourth quarter drive by the Blue Devils that allowed it to take a 14-6 lead late in the fourth quarter.
“Both defenses stepped up to the challenge today,” junior safety Zach Paul said. “But on that (fourth quarter) drive we let up a little.”
Paul came up with a big play in the second quarter when he returned a blocked punt 37 yards for a touchdown.
“I heard the block and I scooped (the ball) up and we had a convoy to the end zone,” he said.
Paul said the Blugolds were prepared for Stout’s unique punt formation, which spread the entire field.
“We were kind of scheming against it all week,” he said. “We kind of knew they were going to be lined up in a wide position.”
The Blugolds failed to convert on the extra point.
In the third quarter the Blugolds put together a long drive and had the ball at Stout’s 3-yard line, but senior tailback Eddie Kaiser fumbled on the 1-yard line and Stout recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Kaiser finished the game with 104 yards on 24 carries.
“That was a big fumble . we had our chances and we didn’t capitalize,” coach Todd Glaser said, adding that he felt it was a well-played game.
“Both sides of the ball played well,” he said. “It’s always a physical game because it’s a rivalry and I thought both sides played physical all the way through the game.”
The loss drops the Blugolds to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the WIAC Conference. Eau Claire plays at UW-La Crosse on Saturday.
Paulson said he and the team improved on Saturday and is looking forward to next week.
“The stupid mistakes that we made, we’ve got to overcome them and bring it to La Crosse next Saturday.”