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College football: UW-Stout hammers UW-Stevens Point for 2nd time, improves to 5-1

spencer flaten, the leader-telegram, eau claire, wis.
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Oct. 16—MENOMONIE — The stakes were higher this time around, but the result was the same when the UW-Stout football team faced UW-Stevens Point for the second time in two months on Saturday.

After a dominant win in the first meeting last month, the Blue Devils hammered the Pointers again, pulling away in the second half for a 37-12 victory at Williams Stadium. The two squared off in a nonconference game in September in Stevens Point, a 45-14 win for the Blue Devils. Saturday's rematch, a WIAC contest, didn't play out much differently.

"I'm just proud of our guys. Beating a team two times is pretty tough," Stout coach Clayt Birmingham said. "Especially with the score differential we had in both games. Real proud of these guys that they came out and did the same thing."

Stout broke open a 10-point game at halftime by scoring 20 unanswered points across the third and fourth quarters. Levy Hamer caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Blue Devils, and quarterback Sean Borgerding threw and ran for a score.

The Blue Devils led 10-0 at halftime, but the Pointers couldn't hang around much longer. Borgerding hit Hamer with a 20-yard touchdown pass on Stout's first drive out of the break, and the quarterback added a 1-yard rushing touchdown four minutes later to turn a close game into a rout similar to the first meeting between the two.

"It's a little weird, I've never really (played the same team twice) in football," Borgerding said. "We had an idea from watching the film last week and also expected some things different. They played well on D, but at the end we just kept battling."

Defensively, Stout forced three turnovers in a strong performance. The Pointers didn't get on the board until the fourth quarter when the Blue Devils were already ahead by 30.

It was tough sledding after Max Herro, Stevens Point's starting quarterback, departed early in the game with an injury. Trey Schroeder was 15 of 19 passing for 139 yards and two scores as his replacement, but the Pointers couldn't overcome some costly fumbles.

"Our defense played great," Borgerding said. "Pitched a shutout for most of the game. In the first half they kept giving us opportunities to get our foot in, and in the second half they just kept getting us the ball back in great field position to make it easier for us."

Carter Fonger and Chippewa Falls native Matt Pomietlo added rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the Blue Devils. Pomietlo carried the ball 16 times for 71 yards to lead the Blue Devils' ground game.

Rayshawn Graham, Stout's usual starter at running back, did not suit up. He was injured in last week's win over UW-Eau Claire.

"I thought everybody stepped up on offense," Birmingham said. "You lose such a weapon in Rayshawn. I'm glad not only Matt Pomietlo but all the running backs and offensive line stepped up too."

Borgerding threw for 205 yards on 17 completions. Hamer caught five passes for 90 yards and Parker Fossum added four receptions for 64 yards. Receiver Tyler Seymour threw a 20-yard touchdown to Hamer on a trick play in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC. After dropping its conference opener to national power UW-Whitewater, Stout has rattled off a pair of wins in WIAC play. The Blue Devils have scored 75 points across their last two games.

"The big thing is we've got great balance," Borgerding said. "We can run the ball effectively, we do great work up front and we've got a lot of weapons on the outside. It makes us tough to defend and game plan for."

Jack Meyer, a Chippewa Falls graduate, hit a 48-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to pad Stout's lead to 10-0. It was his fifth make on a kick of more than 40 yards this season. He's only missed once from that distance, coming up a bit short on a 57-yard try in the fourth quarter on Saturday.

Stout hits the road to take on UW-La Crosse next Saturday.

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UW-Stout 37, UW-Stevens Point 12

Stevens Point;0;0;0;12;—;12

Stout;7;3;13;14;—;37

First Quarter

Stout: Levy Hamer 19 pass from Tyler Seymour (Luke Cool kick), 8:50.

Second Quarter

Stout: Jack Meyer 48 field goal, 0:00.

Third Quarter

Stout: Hamer 20 pass from Sean Borgerding (kick failed), 13:18.

Stout: Borgerding 1 run (Cool kick), 9:27.

Fourth Quarter

Stout: Matt Pomietlo 1 run (Cool kick), 14:26.

Stevens Point: Joe Aguilera 27 pass from Trey Schroeder (kick failed), 10:30.

Stout: Carter Fonger 5 run (Cool kick), 9:00.

Stevens Point: Aguilera 15 pass from Schroeder (pass failed), 1:21.

Team & Individual Statistics

RUSHING (att-yds): Stevens Point (32-110): Vercion Gammel 6-36, Schroeder 13-26, Jahi Stigall 5-20, Jacob Morgan 1-19, Jeffer Williams 4-9, Jerma Moore Jr. 2-2, Max Herro 1-(-2). Stout (36-147): Pomietlo 16-71, Fonger 9-44, Arthur Cox 4-26, Josh Nitek 2-5, Borgerding 5-1.

PASSING (comp-att-int-yds): Stevens Point: Schroeder 15-19-1-139, Herro 2-4-0-16, Morgan 0-1-0-0. Stout: Borgerding 17-33-0-205, Seymour 1-1-0-19.

RECEIVING (rec-yds): Stevens Point: Markell Outlaw 8-78, Aguilera 2-42, James Thompson 4-19, Richard McMartin 1-8, CJ Berry 1-6, Stigall 1-2. Stout: Hamer 5-90, Parker Fossum 4-64, Bradley Sarauer 4-28, Seymour 1-20, Cox 3-15, Colin Smith 1-7.