The UW-Eau Claire football team was unable to get a win this past weekend against UW-Stout at Carson Park in the historic “War on I-94” rivalry, ending the night with a score of 55-7.

This game marked the Blugolds’ sixth consecutive loss this season while Stout stayed consistent to last year’s 30-7 win, accumulating 433 yards of total offense.

With no time to waste in the first quarter, Stout gained a 52-yard touchdown from Kevion Mcdonald, a junior wide receiver, assisted by Jay Alston, a junior quarterback  putting them at a 7-point lead.

The Blugolds’ first possession ended shorty with a three-and-out, giving the Blue Devils a three-yard touchdown run from Keyshawn Carpenter, a junior running-back, resulting in a score of 14-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter.

Head coach Dan Larson said motivation is key during a slow start in the game.

“Motivation comes from challenging our guys to play better and understand that we can’t control what happened in the past,” Larson said. “All we can control is what we’ve got going on now.”

With 4:42 left in the first quarter, JT DenHartog, a junior quarterback ended a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run, marking his seventh touchdown run of the year.

The Blugolds managed to cut the Blue Devils’ lead in half, but it didn’t last long. The Blue Devils scored on their first drive of the second quarter on an 18-yard touchdown run by Carpenter.

Victor Martinelli, a first-year linebacker, blocked the extra point, making it 20-7 with 12:48 left in the first half.

Stout retaliated by scoring two more touchdowns to accumulate a lead of 34-7 by the end of the half.

Brad Goetsch, a sophomore kicker, said the coaches do a good job of keeping the team optimistic going into the second half.

“The coaches make sure we’re always cheering on our teammates from the sidelines and staying positive,” Goetsch said. “So, I think we hung in there pretty well in the second half.”

The Blue Devils came out just as strong in the second half and outscored the Blugolds 21-0.

The team struggled to attack the Blue Devils’ defense downfield, unable to keep the score in reach. DenHartog finished with an average of 4.31 yards per attempt. Martinelli had seven total tackles leading the Blugold defense.

Offensively, the Blugolds have only managed to find the end zone through the air three separate times this season.

Eau Claire continued to have trouble in the third down and only converted four times out of 18 opportunities. They have only converted 25 percent of the time on third downs for the season (30-119).

Larson said a positive attitude is important to maintain, even after a tough loss.

“It’s important to stay humble,” Larson said. “Not every week is going to go our way. If we want to be a program that at some point in time is competing to be at the top of our conference those are the lessons we have to learn.”

On Saturday at 2 p.m. the Blugolds take on the undefeated UW-Oshkosh Titans on the road.