The UW–Platteville football team bounced back from last week’s disappointing loss with a huge 43–10 victory over the UW–Stout Blue Devils on Saturday at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.
The 16th ranked Pioneers accumulated 598 total yards and held the Blue Devils to just 258 yards of total offense.
Junior quarterback Tom Kelly racked up 273 of those yards through the air, completing 20 of his 30 passes along with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Junior receiver Quinn Buschbacher was Kelly’s main target, amassing 156 yards off of 12 targets and put up three scores.
The Poineers’ first score came from a Blue Devils safety following a bad snap out of the back of the end zone. The second score also came in the first quarter when Kelly scrambled five yards and dove in for the first touchdown of the game.
In the second quarter Kelly began his air attack with a 30-yard bomb to sophomore receiver Tim Jansen up the left sideline and freshman kicker Michael Pratl converted the extra point for a 17–0 lead.
The next two scores came through the efforts of Kelly and Buschbacher as Quinn scored from 54 and seven yards and the Pioneers went into the half leading 29–0.
The Pioneers received the ball in the second half and a combination of junior running back Ryan Fish’s carries and a 22-yard completion to Patrick Sheehan set up Bushbacher’s final score from Kelly to make it 36–0.
Kelly continued his barrage with a 19-yard dart to junior receiver Mitch Munda for the Pioneers’ final score of the game.
The Blue Devils mustered a late game in the third quarter and into the fourth as they managed to put up a field goal and a short TD run from Adolfo Pacheco before the time ran out to make the final score 43–10.
Senior linebacker Andrew Belken led the defensive efforts for the Pioneers with nine tackles, while junior Austin Young made two-and-a-half tackles for loss and Jason Flagg had the Pioneers’ only interception, which he returned for 49 yards.
The Pioneers’ (6–2, 3–2 WIAC) season continues next Saturday when they travel to UW–Eau Claire (0–8, 0–5) to take on the Blugolds with the kickoff set to begin at 1 p.m.
UW–Platteville 43, UW–Stout 10
(from Saturday, Oct. 31 @ Platteville)
UW–Stout 0 0 3 7 — 10
UW–Platteville 9 20 14 0 — 43
P: Team safety (snap out of end zone)
P: Tom Kelly 5 run (Michael Pratl kick)
P: Tm Jansen 30 pass from Kelly (Pratl kick)
P: Quinn Buschbacher 54 pass from Kelly (Pratl kick)
P: Buschbacher 7 pass from Kelly (Pratl kick)
P: Buschbacher 2 pass from Kelly (Pratl kick)
P: Mitch Munda 19 pass from Kelly (Pratl kick)
S: FG Drew Pearson 41
S: Adolfo Pacheco 3 run (Pearson kick)
Team Statistics
First downs — S 14, P 35. Rushing — S 31-120, P 60-290. Passing — S 10-26-1, 138; P 23-35-2, 308. Fumbles–lost — S 3-1, P 1-0. Penalties — S 6-65, P 6-50.
Individual Statistics
Rushing — S: Travis Urlaub 13-52; P: Ryan Fish 19-121. Passing — S: Hank Kujak 10-24-0, 138; P: Tom Kelly 20-30-2, 273. Receiving — S: Travis Urlaub 3-39; P: Quinn Buschbacher 12-156.
