By Justin Dade - Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team fell to UW-Stout 55-7 at Carson Park on Saturday night in the historic "War on I-94" rivalry.
The Blugolds' losing streak was extended to six as UW-Stout followed up a 30-7 win a year ago with a big win in this one, piling up 433 yards of total offense.
UW-Stout got on the board first just over three minutes into the game on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Jay Alston to Kevion McDonald to quickly make it 7-0.
After a Blugold three-and-out on their first possession, the Blue Devils added another touchdown on a three-yard touchdown run by Keyshawn Carpenter to make it 14-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter.
UW-Eau Claire needed an answer on their next drive, and they got exactly what they needed. Quarterback JT DenHartog (Jr. - Hopkins, MN) capped off a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to cut the lead in half with 4:42 left in the first quarter. The touchdown run was DenHartog's seventh of the year.
The Blue Devils would add to their lead on their first drive of the second quarter on an 18-yard touchdown run by Carpenter that made it 20-7 with 12:48 left in the first half after the extra point was blocked by linebacker Victor Martinelli (Fr. – Milton, WI).
UW-Stout would add two more touchdowns before the end of the half to take a 34-7 lead into the locker room.
The Blue Devils continued to pour it on in the second half outscoring the Blugolds 21-0 half to cruise to the 55-7 win.
DenHartog struggled to find time to attack the Blue Devil defense downfield to try and keep things close. The junior signal caller finished with an average of just 4.31 yards per attempt. The Blugolds have only managed to find the end zone through the air three times this season.
Martinelli led the Blugold defense with seven total tackles (two for loss).
The season struggles on third down continued for the Blugolds in this game converting just four times in 18 opportunities. They have now only converted 25% of the time on the season on third down (30-119).
The Blugolds (1-7) will take on undefeated UW-Oshkosh on the road next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in search of their first conference win of the season.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
