UW-Whitewater 16, UW-Eau Claire 14
Sophomore Janesville Parker product Matt McCulloch picked off Amery junior Kyle Paulson, snuffing out UW-Eau Claire’s final drive on a third-and-17 play. The Warhawks then ran out the final 2:25 to hold onto their 22nd consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory, a streak that dates back to late in the 2004 season.
Kicker Jeff Schebler booted three field goals, including a 47-yarder, and freshman Levell Coppage’s first touchdown were enough for the second-ranked NCAA Division III visitors (1-0, 2-0) as Wauwatosa East’s Jeff Donovan completed 17 of 28 passes for 134 yards, eight of them to Hartford’s Aaron Rusch.
Coppage was the workhorse, carrying 42 times for 220 yards.
Eau Claire (0-1, 1-1) got 112 yards from junior Cory Sartorelli of Appleton North, while Paulson finished 14 of 30 for 131 yards.
UW-Stout 37, Jamestown (N.D.) 13
The Blue Devils stifled the NAIA school’s offense and moved almost at will in building a 24-0 cushion at the intermission in improving to 2-0.
Stout got three scoring passes and a touchdown run from quarterback Kyle Provos and Menomonie freshman Trevor Fiege led the ground attack with 10 carries for 104 yards.
Meanwhile, Stout’s defense limited the Jimmies to 31 yards rushing on 21 attempts. Senior Jake Pomputis of Owen-Withee and freshman Ryan Pearcy of Plover intercepted passes in the fourth quarter. Pomputis returned his 52 yards to set up Hubertus junior kicker Kyle Martin’s third field goal.
North Dakota 45, UW-La Crosse 7
The Division I-AA Fighting Sioux dominated from the get-go, scoring on their first four drives for a 28-7 advantage, leading to the Eagles’ first 0-2 start since 2000.
The visitors’ lone bright spot came when sophomore quarterback Alex Seguin tossed a 2-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Tyler Keeney of Prairie du Chien to cut the deficit to 14-7. Seguin had connected with senior tailback Eric Donoval of Sheboygan South on a 67-yard gain.
La Crosse managed 199 yards of total offense, while the Eagles’ defense was shredded for 500 yards. Senior linebacker Drew Kiefer of Abbotsford registered nine tackles.
St. Ambrose (Iowa) 34, UW-Platteville 17
A week after a spirited fourth-quarter rally to win their opener, the Pioneers couldn’t live with prosperity. Platteville held a 17-7 margin, but the Bees cut that to three points by halftime and scored 20 unanswered in the second half to drop the Pioneers to 1-1.
Senior quarterback John Akim of Chetek finished with 233 yards passing, including seven to senior wide receiver Nick Grosso, including a 25-yard scoring play. Grosso also blocked a punt that sophomore running back Jon Martin of River Ridge scooped up and went 32 yards for a TD. Junior kicker Tony Smidl of Oshkosh West booted a 26-yard field goal.
Senior lineman David Akey of Merrill topped the defense with 10 stops, which featured a sack and two tackles for loss.
St. John’s (Minn.) 22, UW-River Falls 6
The Falcons got interceptions from Hudson freshman Curt Johnson and St. Croix Central senior Jamie Bisch in the first half but couldn’t get their offense untracked and trailed 10-0 en route to suffering a 22-6 setback in their season opener.
River Falls got a 19-yard punt return from sophomore Michael Zweifel of Whitewater that set up the Falcons’ 35-yard scoring drive. But the visitors botched the extra point and the Johnnies took control again.
Senior quarterback Storm Harmon of Altoona misfired on his first five pass attempts but finished 12 of 22 for 117 yards, seven of them for 65 yards going to senior Ryan Hansen of Grantsburg.
Justin Eloranta, a sophomore from Owen-Withee, led the defense with 18 tackles.
UW-Stevens Point 45, Iowa Wesleyan 7
The Pointers (2-0) dominated both sides of the ball in bolting to a 35-0 halftime lead.
Waunakee sophomore T.C. Farber led the hosts’ ground attack with 24 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Baraboo junior Jared Beckwith finished 18 of 25 for 182 yards passing with two TD tosses and an interception.
Junior linebacker John Jones of Oregon registered six total tackles, forced a fumble and recovered another for the Stevens Point defense.