Issued: September 6, 2002

BIG PLAYS KEY VICTORY OVER ST. JOHN'S

EAU CLAIRE - In a game that saw a furious start followed by a ferocious comeback, the UW-Eau Claire football team had enough fight left in them to knock out St. John's 28-21 in overtime before a capacity crowd of 6,500 fans tonight at Carson Park.

The Johnnies were ranked first in Division III by Street & Smith and Sports Illustrated and second in the d3football.com pre-season polls. The Blugolds were ranked 22nd by d3football.com.

After the Blugold defense held the Johnnie offense to a three-and-out on the game's opening position, cornerback Derek Sikora (Fr.-Neillsville) went 75 yards down the left sideline off a Charlie Carr punt along with a two-point conversion to give the Blugolds an early 8-0 lead just 2:04 into the game.

An errant pass by Johnnie quarterback Ryan Keating was intercepted by cornerback Justin Miller (Sr.-Woodbury, MN) at the St. John's 31-yard line leading to a one-yard quarterback sneak over right guard Mike Bestul (Sr.-Chippewa Falls/Chi-Hi) with 9:43 remaining in the first quarter to push the Blugold lead to 14-0.

The turnover bug bit the Johnnies once again as Sikora forced and recovered a fumble off a completed pass to Johnnie tight end Ross Denne. The Blugolds responded with a five-play, 89-yard drive capped with a 15-yard touchdown by tailback Joe Gast (Fr.-Waconia, MN) to extend the lead to 21-0 with 3:47 to go in the first quarter.

The action slowed down immensely in the second quarter until the Johnnies received the ball with 57 seconds remaining in the half after a missed Blugold field goal. Starting the drive on their own 25 yard line, the Johnnies used a hurry-up offense to move the ball to the Blugold 32-yard line before a Johnnie holding penalty as time expired ended the first half with the Blugolds maintaining a 21-0 lead.

The Johnnies would break into the scoring column in the third quarter when they went 39 yards in 10 plays culminating with a Blake Elliott one-yard run cut the lead to 21-7.

With the Blugolds unable to get their offense on track in the second half, the Johnnies continued to chop away at the lead in the fourth quarter when Elliott struck again, this time on a 38-yard touchdown reception with 5:05 to go in regulation that saw the Blugold lead shrink to 21-14.

With 3:53 remaining in regulation the Johnnies started their final drive on their own 12-yard line. Keating completed 7-of-7 passes on the drive that ended with a one-yard quarterback sneak with 14 seconds in regulation which eventually sent the game into overtime.

Winning the coin toss and electing to receive, the Blugolds began the extra session with an illegal procedure penalty that placed the ball on the 30-yard line. With the first play of overtime quarterback Jeremy Darnell (Fr.-Withee/Owen-Withee) threw a ball into the right side of the end zone that appeared to be thrown right into double coverage. Adjusting to the ball and timing his leap, wide receiver Erik Ferguson (Jr.-Eyota/Dover-Eyota) elevated above a Johnnie defended to make a spectacular touchdown catch. The ensuing PAT was good and the Blugolds took a 28-21 lead.

On the Johnnies's first offensive play in overtime, Elliot received a pitch running towards the left side of the field and attempted to throw the ball back to Keating. The Blugold defense stayed home as Mike LaBarbera (Jr.-Eau Claire/Memorial) rotated over to cover and Keating and Miller covering the deep right-third of the field came up to intercept the overthrown ball to preserve a thrilling 28-21 Blugold victory.

Darnell went 7-for-20 for 121 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in his Blugold debut. Brian Mitchell (Fr.-Carol Stream, IL) carried the ball 24 times for 93 yards while Gast gained 61 yards on 14 carries for the Blugolds.

Defensively inside linebacker Brad Gawronski (Sr.-Reedsburg/Webb) finished the game with 10 solo tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack to total 13 tackles. Sikora ended the game with 11 tackles, all solo.

The Blugolds will play their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe in as many weeks when they travel to Augsburg to face the Auggies next Saturday for a 7:00 P.M. game.