EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Unviersity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire football team lost to UW-Whitewater 42-7 on Saturday at Carson Park, conclude their season. The Blugolds' points came on a 15-play, 77-yard drive in the second quarter that cut the score to 14-7 with 6:49 left in the half. UW-Eau Claire finished with 122 passing yards and 87 rushing yards, while Whitewater totaled 435 yards and scored in all four quarters.
The Warhawks controlled possession for 12:17 of the first quarter and converted four of five third downs, rushing for 113 yards and adding 75 passing yards while the Blugolds were limited to seven passing yards and no rushing yards. Justin Klinkner's 1-yard touchdown run accounted for the quarter's scoring, and
Aidan Drost blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt to keep the margin at 7-0 after one.
UW-Eau Claire controlled the second quarter in time of possession at 12:14 and converted four of five third downs, with
Ayden Helder's 6-yard touchdown pass to
Matt Kuczaj capping a 15-play, 77-yard drive. Kuczaj recorded his first receiving touchdown of the season. Whitewater still outscored the Blugolds 14-7 in the quarter, adding a 54-yard touchdown run by Tommy Novotny and taking a 21-7 lead into the break.
The Blugolds produced 62 yards and four first downs in the third quarter, but two turnovers came as UWW recorded 14 points off turnovers. Justin Klinkner completed all six of his passes in the quarter for 85 yards and touchdowns to Tyler Vasey and Dominic Rinaldi, helping Whitewater outscore UW-Eau Claire 14-0 and take a 35-7 lead into the fourth.
The visitors held the ball for 10:15 of the fourth quarter and rushed 14 times for 49 yards, while the Blugolds had 4:45 of possession. The Blugolds were limited to 12 rushing yards and 2-of-8 passing for 11 yards, went 0-for-3 on third down and turned it over on downs once. Justin Klinkner's 1-yard touchdown run and Grant Urban's PAT accounted for the only points of the quarter, setting the final score at 42-7.
Helder completed 17 of 23 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. Helder reached 10 passing touchdowns on the season, including one in the game. Kuczaj caught three passes for 16 yards and a touchdown.
Keagan Christy recorded a team-high and season-high 14 tackles.
Jack Scheldroup finished with 10 tackles and a season-high two sacks. Scheldroup has recorded 10 or more tackles in three consecutive games.
UW-Eau Claire end their season with a 6-4 overall record and 3-4 in conference play. UW-Whitewater improved tp 10-0 overall and won the WIAC championship with a conference record of 7-0.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports, and on social media on
Twitter,
Instagram,
Facebook, and
TikTok.
