Blugolds fall to 4th ranked St. Thomas in season opener

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team fell to the No. 4 University of St. Thomas Tommies 42-6 on Saturday night at Carson Park in the teams' season opener.

After a strong first quarter headlined by a 63-yard touchdown pass from JT Denhartog (So. - Hopkins, MN) to Brody Diggins (Jr. – Rochester, MN), St. Thomas fought back, led by strong quarterback play from Alex Fenske.

Diggins was able to beat his defender on a deep ball down the field late in the first quarter and finished the play by finding the end zone to give the Blugolds the early 6-0 lead after a failed extra point attempt.

The first quarter of play finished with the Blugolds on top led by a stout Blugold run defense that prevented the Tommies from moving the ball.

The second quarter started just the way the Blugolds had planned after Ross Curran (So. - Lakeville, MN) recovered a Tommie fumble with 14:09 left to play in the half.

St. Thomas found their legs in the rest of the second quarter on a trio of touchdowns giving Tommies the 21-6 lead at the half.

The Blugolds would surrender three more St. Thomas touchdowns in the second half to fall 42-6.

William Cooley (Jr. – Platteville, WI) intercepted a Gabe Green pass late in the fourth quarter to give the Blugolds their second takeaway of the evening.

Leading the Blugolds on defense in tackles was Rashawn Williams (So. – Chicago, IL) with eight including one for a loss.

UW-Eau Claire will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Moorhead to take on the Cobbers of Concordia-Moorhead at 1:00 p.m.