MENOMONIE (November 5, 2106) - In a game that featured four lead swings, UW-Stout come out on the short end of a shootout with UW-Stevens Point, falling to the Pointers, 35-28, Saturday at Goerke Field.
The Blue Devils (3-6, 1-5 WIAC) came back from a deficit twice, only to see the Pointers (6-3, 3-3 WIAC) grab the lead back each time. But Stout came back from bigger deficits both times.
Down10-0 in the first quarter, junior wide receiver Brian Sandifer scored two TDs before halftime, only to see the Pointers grab the lead at the break.After Stevens Point scored on a 43-yard field gol by Kyle Hendzel at 9:53 in the first quarter and Jared Pankow scored on a 9-yard pass from Kyle Larson, Sandifer hauled in TD receptions from quarteback Jay Alston.
The Blue Devils drove 75 yards in eight plays, highlighted by a 27-yard pass from Alston to Kevion McDonald to the Pointer 9-yard line, and capped off the drive with a 6-yard pass to Sandifer at 2:38 in the first quarter.
Neither team put anything on the board through much of the second quarter, but an interception by the Blue Devils' LaRon Thompson at the Stout 33 at 6:42 gave Stout the ball.
Alston engineered a 67-yard, 9-play drive, found McDonald for 14 yards, Chris Pica-Anderson for 11 yards and Sandifer for 32 yards to get down to the Pointer 9. Following a rush, Alston hit Sandifer in the end zone with 2:07 left in the first half. Following Drew Pearson's PAT, the Blue Devils led, 14-10.
But the Pointers ground out big chunks of real estate on the their next drive, beginning with a 30-yard pass play from Larson to Logan Taylor. The Pointers would go 75 yards in six plays and Larson would complete the drive on a 14-yard pass play to Taylor.
The teams traded interceptions to open the second half, with Stout's Troy Rudesill getting his first career pick, and the Pointers' Kevin Sanchez picking off Stout's Alston. But Sanchez returned his theft 61 yards to the Stout 19 before going out of bounds.
The Pointers needed only one play to capitalize, with Larson hitting Taylor on first down for the 19 yard score, and a 24-14 Stevens Point lead.
The Blue Devils would need only one play to swing the momentum back in their favor. Noel Gonzalez took the ensuing kickoff and went 96 yards to paydirt, the longest Stout kickoff return since Mike Bechtel returned a kick 98 yards against UW-Whitewater on homecoming day, Oct. 14, 1995. Stout trailed 24-21.at 11:27 of the third quarter.
The Blue Devil defense would hold the Pointers to a Hendzel 27-yard field goal, and the Pointers pushed their lead to 27-21.
Stout would take the lead on the next drive. After Adolfo Pacheco returned the kickoff 21 yards to the Stout 29, Alston again engineered a scoring drive, this one 71 yards in seven plays. Travis Urlaub rushed four times for 25 yards, including the final three yards for the score. In the drive, Alston completed a 13 yard pass to tight end Dustin Rondorf and a 23 yard pass to Sandifer. The Blue Devils led, 28-27, at 2:47 of the third quarter.
The Pointers were poised to answer, driving to the Stout 10 in 11 plays, but missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.
Stout went 3-and-out on the next drive and the Pointers would take the lead for good on the next drive, going 49 yards in eight plays and finishing the drive when Larson found Taylor for the receiver's third TD of the afternoon, this one going for 26 yards. The Pointers made good on the two-point conversion for what would prove to be the final score, 35-28.
Stout did have a chance again to either take the lead or tie the game. Gonzalez returned the kickoff 25 yards to the Stout 25 yard line. Following a rush that went nowhere, Alston hit McDonald for a 38-yard pass to the Pointer 37, then followed that up with a 12-yard pass to Sandifer. A six yard loss and two incomplete passes gave Stout 4th and 16 from the Stevens Point 31. Alston found Sandifer in the end zone, but Sandifer was called for offensive pass interference to negate the catch. Stout's drive ended on an incomplete pass.
Sandifer had his second consecutive big game, hauling in five passes for 78 yards and two scores. McDonald pulled down four catches for 94 yards. Stout finished with 318 yards of total offense, with Alston completing 18-of-33 passes for 247 yards and two scores. Alston was intercepted once. Stout finished with 71 rushing yards, with Urlaub getting 50 yards on 13 carries.
Pointer quarterback Larson had a huge day as the Pointers tallied 545 yards of total offense. Larson was 29-of-45 for 456 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted twice. Taylor finished with 10 catches for 169 yards and three TDs. Pankow had eight receptions for 140 yards and a score. Steve Herra had six receptions for 85 yards. The Pointers netted 89 yards rushing, with Britton Vernon getting 93 yards on 22 totes.
Defensively, Stout's Tony Blair had 14 total tackles, eight solo. Tim Rue recorded a sack for the Blue Devils. Adam Wachowiak recorded the Pointers' one sack.
Stout will close out the season when they host second ranked UW-Whitewater, Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. for Senior Day. The Warhawks narrowly escaped with a win today, needing overtime to down UW-River Falls, 27-20.