Blugold football team suffers first loss of the season
The team was defeated by St. Thomas; next up is UW-Stout
More stories from Katrina Erskine
Photo by Chico La Barbera
Drew Hurley tackles one of St. Thomas’s players on Saturdays game. The Blugold’s last out-of-conference game of the season ended in a 49-0 loss.
The Blugolds were hosted by the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul on Saturday. The final score was 49-0, resulting in UW Eau-Claire’s first loss of the season.
The Blugolds received the ball for kickoff. Their possession of the first play landed on their half-yard line, which gave the team a rough start.
“It’s a tough break,” said Brian Kulaga, a fourth-year running back. “It’s the first play of the game. You can’t really think too much about it. We still had to do work on offense, and we did.”
By the second quarter, St. Thomas was up 15-0. UW-Eau Claire had possession of the ball for a total of seven times before half-time. The Blugolds were able to get a first down but couldn’t deliver points on the scoreboard.
St. Thomas scored on five possessions out of seven going into the second half. St. Thomas took full advantage of the ball every chance they got, proving the score at the end of second quarter 35-0.
The third quarter was kicked off by the Blugolds, starting at the 25-yard line. St. Thomas was stopped by UW-Eau Claire’s defense, resulting in Blugold possession. After six plays, the Blugolds were unsuccessful and were forced to punt.
The Blugolds remained at zero points, while St. Thomas scored seven more points.
Heading into the last quarter the score was 42-0, with 4:43 seconds left on the clock. St. Thomas scored their last touchdown of the game, completing the victory with 49-0 final score.
“For my standpoint,” Head Coach Dan Larson said during Tuesday night’s Football Radio Show at Dooley’s Pub, “It’s not just about the fact that we played the toughest (team) in season conference schedule, but I think you got to challenge yourself a little bit out of conference.”
The Blugolds will play next at UW-Stout on Sept. 29, at at 6:05 p.m. The JV team will play on Sept. 20 at 12:30 p.m.
Charlie Brookshaw, a fourth-year defensive lineman, said the team has a plan for success.
“After a tough loss it’s important that we all stick together and have confidence in one another,” Brookshaw said. “We have a great opportunity this week to play a WIAC team and put another tally in the win column Saturday night against Stout.”
Erskine can be reached at [email protected].