MENOMONIE (October 25, 2014) - Despite holding UW-Platteville to their lowest scoring output in a victory this season, UW-Stout was unable to find paydirt, falling 21-0 to the No. 13 ranked Pioneers. Tanner Kuehn (Sr, Fairchild) and Chris Pica-Anderson (So, Eleva) turned in career days for the Blue Devils in the loss as Kuehn had 91 yards rushing and 44 receiving while Pica-Anderson caught eight passes for 94 yards.
Platteville, claimed the lead on the first drive of the game, going 73 yards on eight plays for a 7-0 lead. The Pioneers started off uncharacteristically, running the ball seven straight times for 62 yards to the Stout 11, before quarterback Bryce Corrigan found Dillon Villhauer in the corner of the endzone for the touchdown.
The teams traded punts on the next three drives, before Platteville (6-1, 4-0 WIAC) took over on their own 20 after a Stout (1-6, 0-4 WIAC) punt. This time, the Pioneers passed their way down the field before an 11-yard run by Andy Puccini made the score 14-0 with 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter. On the drive, Corrigan completed 5-of-7 passes for 64 yards.
On the ensuing drive, the Blue Devils mounted a drive of their own as quarterback Garrett Peterson (So, Menasha) guided Stout down to Platteville's 26-yard line, thanks to a 19-yard completion to Pica-Anderson and a 21-yard completion to Matt Small (Sr, Atwater, Calif.). However, Stout's drive came to an end when the Pioneers' Jacob Zilbar intercepted Peterson's pass intended for tight end Reggie Kujak (Jr, Blair).
The Pioneers were unable to capitolize on turnover, as kicker Pat Frio pushed a field goal attempt wide left from 29-yards out. After another Blue Devil drive stalled out, Platteville put together another scoring drive, highlighted by a 71-yard touchdown pass from Corrigan to Mitch Munda to put the Pioneers up 21-0.
After a 23-yard kick return by Zak Snell (Sr, Castaic, Calif.) to start the second half, Peterson led the Blue Devils to the Platteville eight-yard line. A pass interference penalty pushed Stout back to the 23-yard line, facing first-and-goal. After a one-yard run, a seven-yard pass and an incompletion, kicker Taylor Pahl (Fr, Hortonville) lined up for a 32-yard field goal attempt. On the kick, Platteville's Rob Austin came around the left side and got his hand on the ball and the Pioneers recovered.
Stout would have one more drive make it into the redzone, going all the way down to the three-yard line of Platteville with 10:12 to go in the game. On first and second down, Kuehn was stopped for one-yard gains. An incompletion on third, followed by a delay of game penalty, pushed Stout back to the eight-yard line facing fourth and goal. On fourth down, Peterson's pass intended for Pica-Anderson fell incomplete and the Pioneers took over on downs.
The Blue Devil defense turned in a solid day, holding Platteville to zero points in the second half and recording five sacks. Jamie Rohrig (Sr, Owatonna, Minn.) and Iyen Ogbomoh (Fr, Olympia Fields, Ill.) each had 1.5 sacks on the day while Alec Zoern (Sr, Germantown) also had a sack. Kyle Hoefft (Jr, Morton, Ill.) led Stout in tackles with nine, including a half sack and two tackles for loss.
Peterson finished with 205 yards passing, going 25-for-45 on the afternoon. Peterson also carried the ball 10 times for 28 yards. Small had four catches for 40 yards for Stout.
As a team, Stout gained 334 yards (129 rushing, 205 passing) compared to 364 (150 rushing, 214 passing) for the Pioneers.
Up next, the Blue Devils will travel to UW-Eau Claire to battle for The War on Interstate 94 trophy on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.