Stout takes 28-23 win over Platteville
UW-Stout drove 99 yards in 14 plays over more than seven minutes in the fourth quarter to score the game-winning touchdown and take a 28-23 win over UW-Platteville at Ralph E. Davis Stadium Saturday.
Trailing 21-17 after Platteville's Eric Leander returned an interception 37-yards for a score in the third quarter, the Blue Devils pulled to within 21-20 after Richard Marteney drilled his second field goal of the afternoon, this one from 27 yards out.
The Stout (5-4, 3-3) defense stopped the Pioneers (5-4, 3-3) on fourth-and-four, but Pioneers' punter Zak Brinkman stuck the Blue Devils on their own one-yard line.
Stout used a healthy dose of Carlos Concepcion, Craig Warminski and Patrick Mengelkoch on the ensuing drive. Warminski carried the ball seven times in the drive while Concepcion had six carries for 40 yards, including the three-yard touchdown at 6:33 of the fourth quarter.
Only once in the drive did Stout get to third down and quarterback Ross Carey connected with his tight end Mengelkoch for 14 yards to the Platteville 20. Mengelkoch had an 18-yard catch earlier in the drive. Stout elected to go for the two-point conversion to secure a seven-point lead and Carey connected with Luke Rieger to make it 28-21.
Stout stopped Platteville on the next drive when linebacker Trevor Fiege forced a fumble and Cody Price recovered on the Platteville 33. But Stout got nowhere on the drive and elected to attempt to make the first down on fourth-and-five rather than attempt a long field goal into the swirling winds, but a pass fell incomplete.
Platteville used 14 plays to drive to the Stout 9, but Blue Devil cornerback Adam Churchill picked off Pioneer quarterback Nick Anderson in the end zone.
Stout ran the clock down to four seconds and, on fourth-and-15 at the Stout 15, Carey took a safety as he ran out the back of the end zone to run out the clock and clinch the win.
The teams played relatively evenly in the first half. Stout opened the scoring when Warminski rushed five times for 61 yards on the opening drive of the game and scampered for a 23-yard TD. Platteville knotted the score when Darin Blaser hauled in 7-yard TD pass from Anderson.
Jeremy Troupe-Masi set up Stout's next score when he took the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to the Platteville 13. Four plays later, Marteney hit a 23-yard field goal.
Stout jumped out 17-7 when Carey hit Mengelkoch in stride and Mengelkoch went 28-yards for the score.
The Pioneers took advantage of a Blue Devil fumble before halftime and scored with 36 seconds left in the half when Anderson tossed a 12-yard pass to Sean Martinez and the scores was 17-14 at halftime.
Stout's Warminski and Mengelkoch had big games. Warminski ran for his third consecutive 100-yard game, tallying 158 yards on 28 carries. Mengelkoch drew in eight receptions, a career-high, for 111 yards. Concepcion finished with 53 yards on 11 carries. Carey completed 14-of-20 passes for 149 yards and one interceptions, only his third interception of the year.
Stout finished with 342 yards of total offense, 149 in the air, 193 on the ground. The Pioneers tallied 293 total yards, 124 on the ground, 169 in the air.
Anderson was 18-of-35 for 169 yards and one interception. Blaser had seven receptions for 55 yards and Joe Burkeland had six receptions for 54 yards.
