WHITEWATER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire football team got down early and could not overcome second-ranked UW-Whitewater's strong offensive attack in a 38-14 loss today at Perkins Stadium.

The Blugolds (2-3, 0-2 WIAC) started off the game well but could not capitalize on their first two drives. Eau Claire got down to the Whitewater 18 on its opening drive and to the Whitewater 28 on its second but turned the ball over on downs both times.

The Warhawks (5-0, 2-0 WIAC) then went on a scoring run, putting points on the board on each of their next three drives to get up 17-0.

Near the end of the half, the Blugolds closed the gap with Kyle Paulson (Sr.-Amery, Wis.) throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to David Goodman (So.-Neenah, Wis.). A missed extra point left the score 17-6 at the half.

The Blugolds once again started well in the second half and forced a Whitewater fumble on the third quarter's opening drive. Andy Neumann (So.-Germantown, Wis.), who led the Blugolds with 10 tackles, forced the fumble and also recovered it at the 50 yard line.

The Blugolds took eight plays to drive the 50 yards to Whitewater's end zone, to bring the game closer. It was another pass from Paulson this time to Brett Schreiner (Sr.-Somerset, Wis.) for the score and Spencer Kehoe (Sr.-Clear Lake, Wis./Clear Lake) caught a pass from Paulson on the two-point conversion to make the score 17-14.

However, Whitewater scored twice more in the third to make the score 31-14. Eau Claire had very little opportunity in the fourth to get back in the game as they had the ball just two more times. On the Warhawks final scoring drive in the fourth, they chewed up over ten minutes of the clock after going 99 yards in 19 plays to make the score 38-14. The Blugolds had just one minute to work with at the end of the game.

Paulson finished the game with 223 passing yards with 26 completions on 37 attempts. Cory Sartorelli (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./North) led Eau Claire with 75 yards while Goodman led the receivers with 55 yards on four catches and had a long of 37 yards. Three other Blugolds finished with more than 35 receiving yards.

Levell Coppage, who carried 41 times for the Warhawks, ran for 382 yards of Whitewater's 568 yards of offense, averaging 9.3 yards a carry. The 382 yards is a Whitewater record and is second all-time in the conference. He also finished with three touchdowns on the day. Jeff Donovan led Whitewater with 166 yards passing with 13 completions on 19 attempts. Adam Brandes caught five passes for 78 yards, including a long of 44.

The Blugolds wrapped up their four-game road stretch today and will be back at home for the next two weekends. Eau Claire will face Platteville on Homecoming at 1 p.m. at Carson Park next weekend (Oct. 17). The following Saturday Stout will be in town for the 1 p.m. Hall of Fame game.