STEVENS POINT (November 15, 2014) - For the second week in a row, the Blue Devils fell behind early only to come roaring back in the second half. This time however, the comeback attempt fell just short as UW-Stevens Point was able to score a touchdown with under a minute to go, handing UW-Stout a 31-24 season-ending loss.
Stout senior running back Tanner Kuehn (Fairchild) ended his career on a high note, rushing for a career-high 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a 54-yarder midway through the fourth quarter that tied the game at 24. It marked the fourth time this year that Kuehn set a career-high in rushing yards and the second consecutive week he rushed for more than 100 yards after going for 114 in last weeks win over River Falls.
The Blue Devils looked to be in fine form early on, as they forced a three-and-out on Stevens Point's first possesion. Taking over on their own 44 yard line, quarterback Garrett Peterson (So, Menasha) completed three passes to Cody Rosemeyer (Sr, Gilman) for 35 yards before rushing for 14 yards down to the Pointers four yard line. After a holding penalty set Stout back 10 yards, Peterson was intercepted in the endzone by the Pointers Deion Jones.
Stevens Point then took the ball all the way down the field on a 12-play, 80 yard drive that ended with a Cody Nuernberg touchdown pass to Alex Wallace to give the Pointers a 7-0 lead.
On Stout's ensuing drive, another interception gave Stevens Point the ball on the Blue Devil's 25 yard line, where Nuernberg needed only four plays to put the Pointers back in the endzone, capping off the drive with a touchdown pass to Jake Menzel for a 14-0 lead.
After the teams traded punts on their next two drives, Stout took over again at the beginning of the second quarter, but another interception quickly ended that drive as well.
The Blue Devil defense managed to hold the Pointers to just a field goal after the interception, giving Stevens Point a 17-0 lead with just under 11 minutes to go in the first half.
Stevens Point would pick off one more pass in the first half, but this one proved to be not as costly as the Stout defense forced a three-and-out. On the punt, Joe Hakeem (So, Woodbury, Minn.) came through and blocked the kick. Iyen Ogbomoh (Fr, Olympia Fields, Ill.) came up with ball and ran it in from 15 yards out, getting the Blue Devils on the scoreboard and cutting the lead to 17-7.
In the second half, Stout got on the board again quickly, with the aid of a fake punt. After three plays netted the Blue Devils just seven yards on the opening drive of the third quarter, Stout punter Clark Riedel (Fr, Waukesha) found defensive lineman Garrett Eide (So, Blair) for a 31-yard gain, giving Stout new life and a first down on the Pointer's 30 yard line. Five plays later, Kuehn carried the ball over the goal line from four yards out, bringing Stout within three, 17-14.
Stevens Point increased the lead to 24-14 with under a minute to go in the third, as Nuernberg threw his third touchdown of the day to running back Dejaun Wright
At the start of the fourth quarter, a Taylor Pahl (Fr, Hortonville) field goal brought Stout back within a touchdown, 24-17, with 13:18 remaining in the game. After a Pointers punt, Stout took over on their own 19 yard line with 10 minutes to go. A pair of passes to Aaron Jenny (Sr, Spicer, Minn.) and Chris Pica-Anderson (So, Eleva) followed by a pair of Kuehn rushes set the Blue Devils up with a first down on their own 46. On the very next play, Kuehn took the ball and was off, rumbling 54-yards for the score to tie the game at 24 with just under seven minutes to go in the game.
An interception by Mike Bond on the Pointers next possession gave Stout the ball back on the Pointer's 48 yard line with 4:24 to go, but an incompletion on fourth down and four gave the ball back to Stevens Point with 2:49 left.
A facemask penalty after a short gain set Stevens Point up on the Blue Devils 35 yard line. An eight-yard pass followed by two runs by Wright totaling 25 yards gave the Pointers the ball on the two yard line, where Wright promptly ran it in for the score, giving Stevens Point a 31-24 lead with just 53 seconds left in the game.
A sack, an incompletion, a six yard gain, and a dropped pass was the results of Stout's final drive and the Pointers ran out the clock to secure the victory.
For the Blue Devils, Rosemeyer finished with 91 yards on 10 receptions while Jenny added five grabs for 60 yards on the day. Defensively, Luke Bakkum (Sr, Oconomowoc) had 10 tackles, eight solo, including two for loss. Kyle Hoefft (Jr, Morton, Ill.) added 10 tackles, three solo. Tyler Naatz (Sr, Menomonie) had an interception that he returned for 36 yards in addition to seven tackles, four solo and Josh Archibald (Sr, Cottage Grove, Minn.) had a sack for Stout.
Blue Devils come back, but late TD gives Pointers 31-24 win
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141115_tox2.xml
2014
UW-Stout
24
UW-Stevens Point
31
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-Stout (2-8) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| UW-Stevens Point (7-3) | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
Nov 15, 2014