UW-Eau Claire (5-1) vs UW-Platteville (2-3)
Saturday, October 26, 1:00 PM
Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium, Platteville, WI

Series History: Saturday’s match-up between UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville marks the 40th meeting between both schools with the Pioneers holding a 24-15-1 advantage. The series has been one of streaks as the Blugolds have won the previous six contests. In last year’s 23-14 Blugold victory at Carson Park Darrell Souhrada piled up 162 yards on 36 carries including touchdown runs of one and three yards to preserve the victory. Brian Rasmussen completed 11-of-24 passes for 213 yards including a 41-yard touchdown strike to Jeremy Bergeron. Chad Crutchley set team highs with three receptions for 106 yards.

Radio: WBIZ-AM Sportsradio 1400 will cover the game for the Blugolds with Mike Sullivan performing the play-by-play duties.

For Platteville WPVL-AM 1590 and campus station WSUP-91FM will provide live broadcasts of the contest.

UW-Eau Claire Coach Todd Hoffner: Coach Hoffner enters his fourth season with the Blugolds. Hoffner holds a 20-15 career mark. Last season the Blugolds were WIAC co-champions.

UW-Platteville Coach Mike Emendorfer: Coach Emendorfer is in his 4th season with the Pioneers. Emendorfer owns a 13-22 record at Platteville

Up Next: The Blugolds host two home games in November starting off with UW-Whitewater at Carson Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 P.M.

Platteville will start a two-game road trip beginning with a visit to Titan Stadium to face UW-Oshkosh. Game time is set for 1:00 P.M.

Last Week’s Action: Proving it had a ground attack of their own, the UW-Eau Claire offense racked up yards on the ground and time off the clock to defeat UW-River Falls 34-12.

The Blugold ground game outgained the run-orientated Falcons 339-190 averaging 7.1 yards per carry. Starting the game from there own 28 yard line, the Blugolds marched down the field on a 12 play, 67-yard drive that ended with a Nick Diciaula 22-yard field goal to make the score 3-0.

The Falcons answered back with a scoring drive of their own going 70 yards on 12 plays but had the extra point attempt blocked to give the Falcons a 6-3 lead.

Taking advantage of good field position, Joe Gast rushed in from one yard out to put the Blugolds back on top 10-6. The scoring run was set up by a 31-yard scamper from Gast earlier on the drive.

Getting the ball back with 45 seconds left in the first half, the Blugolds went 73 yards in 6 plays to set up another Diciaula’s second field goal to extend the Blugold lead to 13-6.

Tight end Brad Newton caught two third quarter touchdown receptions of nine and one yard that put the game out of reach. Gast ended any hopes of a Falcon comeback with his second touchdown of the game that saw the Blugolds go 80 yards on 11 plays chewing up seven minutes of clock.

The only Falcon points of the second half came off a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone.

Gast led a balanced ground game gaining 102 yards on nine carries. Tail back Dave Garrison made the most of his first start of the season gaining 101 yards on 19 carries. After a 300 yard passing game a week ago, quarterback Nels Fredrickson used his legs to keep several Blugold drives alive finishing with 70 yards on the ground.

Jason Foemmel led all receivers with four catches for 44 yards followed by Newton hauling in three receptions for 47 yards.

The defensive line duo of Austin Crow and Nick Goeser was pivotal in slowing down the Falcon ground game. Both players finished with 10 tackles as Goeser made nine solo tackles.

Every Game Counts: Entering the half-way point of the conference schedule, La Crosse stands alone on top of the standings at 3-0 but breathing heavy down the Eagles’ necks are four teams all sitting at 2-1. Five schools are within two games of first place. Eau Claire, Stout, Stevens Point and Whitewater trail by one game with Platteville two games behind La Crosse. The Eagles will play Whitewater this weekend and end the season hosting Eau Claire followed by a trip to Menomonee. None of the aforementioned schools at 2-1 will square off against each other this weekend. Last weekend included two record-setting performances by Stout’s Luke Bundgaard and Platteville’s Tom Stetzer. Bundgaard became the Blue Devil’s all-time leading rusher while Stetzer became the Pioneers’ career leader in passing yardage. Both players are juniors. In this week’s AFCA poll both Stout and Eau Claire jumped up four and five spots to number 16 and 17, respectively. Stevens Point received 18 votes while La Crosse received votes for the first time this season.

About the Pioneers: Saturday’s match-up features a Pioneer squad trying to stay in contention for a conference title. The Pioneers feature an explosive pass-happy offense led by junior quarterback Tom Stetzer, who has set nearly every school passing mark along with several conference records.

UW-Platteville has played an exciting brand of football in 2002, as all three league games have come down to the final minutes of regulation—and beyond.

The Pioneers’ first two WIAC games went overtime, with UWP beating UW-Stout 34-31 and losing at UW-La Crosse 35-28. Last Saturday, the Pioneers fell to UW-Whitewater 36-33.

The Whitewater contest featured one of the greatest, if not the greatest, days by a receiver in Pioneer history.

Matt Kent caught 13 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns. Kent, who was questionable because of an ankle injury suffered in La Crosse, came within 15 yards of the WIAC single-game record. Kent caught touchdown passes of 82, 24, 22 and 68 yards. He also caught a two-point conversion from Tom Stetzer and returned the favor by throwing a two-point pass to Stetzer. With 291 total yards and 28 points, the Stetzer-to-Kent combination accounted for 78 percent of the Pioneers’ yards and 85 percent of their points.

Stetzer also became the Pioneers’ all-time leader in yards. The junior QB, who attempted his 1,000th pass early in Saturday’s game, has 6,396 passing yards.

Kent and linebacker Mitch Repka, who made 12 tackles were voted the Players of the Game in the 10th annual George Chryst Bowl, named after the late Pioneer coach.

Last Week’s Results: La Crosse 34, Oshkosh 26; Stevens Point 38, River Falls 27; Stout 27, Concordia-Moorhead 21; Whitewater 36, Platteville 33.

This Week’s Games: Eau Claire at Platteville, 1:00 PM; La Crosse at Whitewater, 1:00 P.M.; Oshkosh at Stevens Point, 1:00 PM; Stout at River Falls, 1:00 PM.