Sports
Football starts conference play
The Pointer
dneck184@wsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point football team marked their first conference game of the season with a “W” last Saturday when they defeated the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 48-33 at Goerke Field in the 23rd annual Spud Bowl.
The Pointers’ first conference game was also their first appearance at home. Following a series of difficult non-conference games that took them as far as Rolla, Miss. and Asuza, Calif., the team finally got to demonstrate their talent against a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team.
The Spud Bowl began 23 years ago as a way for central Wisconsin’s agriculture industry to showcase their achievements and progress in potato farming. This year’s Spud Bowl was an opportunity for the Pointers to showcase their own progress.
Quarterback Jared Beckwith’s impressive 447 passing yards against the Blugolds landed him a career-high five touchdowns. He began the game’s scoring summary running in a two yard touchdown with 5:09 left in the first quarter. The Pointers then scored a series of unanswered touchdowns with a 15-yard run by Garrett Medenwald and a three-yard reception by Jared Jenkins.
As the second quarter unfolded, the Blugolds were able to put points on the board with rushing touchdowns by Cory Sartorelli and Kyle Paulson, but not without two more Pointer touchdowns from receivers Jenkins and Anthony Aker. Stevens Point finished the half on top with a score of 35-13.
With a fresh start in the second half, UW-Eau Claire made a statement of their own as wide receiver Spencer Kehoe scored the only touchdown in the third quarter. The Blugolds began the fourth quarter with two more touchdowns, one of which came from an interception returned by Bryant Dorsey as they pushed the score to 35-33.
But it did not take long for Beckwith and the Pointers to respond with two momentum-killing touchdowns, burying the Blugolds and their comeback attempt. A pair of touchdown passes to Jared Jenkins, one for 61 yards and the other for 56 put Jenkins’ touchdown total at four for the game, ending the Pointers’ first home game with a victory, 48-33.
“The non-conference games don’t mean a thing after today. A win against Eau Claire is the cure for everything,” said Head Coach John Miech.
Beckwith attributed the victory to the lessons learned in those non-conference games.
“I think those games really prepared us a lot, playing teams that were able to expose the things we really needed work on,” he said.
Beckwith said his team did not come out strong after halftime. “I think we took it a little too slow, we’re a team that doesn’t always come out to play right away in the second half, and that’s something that needs work,” said Beckwith.
“After they came back to 35-33, we could’ve folded right there. Thankfully, we were able to come up with some touchdowns after they returned the interception.”
Following the game, fans enjoyed the Spud Bowl’s fundraising buffet, featuring potatoes donated by Paragon Potato Farms and prepared by the University Dining Service. Funds for the buffet were raised to provide scholarships for four UWSP students.
Steve Menzel, the Spud Bowl Committee chair, said the tradition was started to increase interaction between the university and the central Wisconsin agriculture industry. He noted that the turnout was great considering the rainy weather.
“This event is a good example of the university and community coming together for a good cause,” said Menzel.
Jared Beckwith was named the WIAC Player of the Week for his performance against the Blugolds. The Pointers will prepare for their homecoming game this Saturday against the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Goerke Field at 1 p.m.
