MENOMONIE, Wis. — In the first-ever meeting between Cal Lutheran football and the University of Wisconsin-Stout, it was a physical battle that saw great offensive and defensive plays, but in the end the No. 25 Devils were too much and took down the Kingsmen 49-24 Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.
Cal Lutheran (1-2) got a big day from senior running back Chris Anderson. He exploded for a season-high 127 yards and a touchdown. Anderson was impressive as he averaged 5.3 yards per carry. His long run of the day was for 38 yards.
Senior quarterback Hayden Smith was under center the entire game. He went 17-for-30 for 202 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Freshman Ty Riley and sophomore Michael Magana caught those touchdown passes.
Riley led the receiving squad in receptions with six for 43 yards. Pierce McLurkin recorded the most yards with 67. He had four receptions and averaged 16.8 per catch.
On defense, freshman defensive back Zion Brown was all over the field and totaled 11 tackles. Junior linebacker Ethan Pulley was next with 10 tackles, including a tackle for loss. It is the second straight game that Pulley has recorded double-digit tackles.
Senior Mason Evans was next with eight tackles and senior Ty Lozano and sophomore Izayah Mora both had seven. Lozano had 1.5 tackles for loss and More had 1.0. Junior Tecoy Porter and sophomore Caleb Casimere also tallied a tackle for loss. Porter also forced a fumble and recovered it.
The game had some similarities as first downs and time of possession were very close. UW-Stout had 22 first downs and Cal Lutheran had 21. The Kingsmen had more time of possession, just by a slim margin, 30:48 compared to the Devils' 29:12.
The big difference of the game came down to the yards. The Devils outgained the Kingsmen by 200 yards, 547 to 347. UW-Stout only punted the ball one time, whereas the CLU punted four times.
The Kingsmen got on the board first as Christian Antezana drilled a 48-yard field goal right down the middle. The kick capped of a drive that featured the 38-yard scamper from Anderson.
The Devils answered with 21 straight points. UW-Stout's quarterback Sean Borgerding found Levy Harner for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Rayshawn Graham then added two rushing touchdowns for 2-yards and 65-yards.
The Kingsmen got back into the game and scored with 24 seconds left in the half. Smith found Riley for his first touchdown reception of the year. Riley, 6-foot-6, went up against a 5-foot-10 defensive back, and took advantage of the situation as he went up and over the defender for an amazing 4-yard touchdown grab. Cal Lutheran cut the lead to 21-10 at the half.
The Devils got the ball to start the second half and went all the way down the field to take a 28-10 lead. They added another touchdown later in the quarter and had a 35-10 lead. Both scores were touchdown passes from the arm of Borgerding.
The teams went back and forth in scoring for the rest of the game. Cal Lutheran two finals score came from the ground and then the air. Anderson rushed for a 2-yard score and Magana caught the 25-yard touchdown pass from Smith.
The game was the final non-conference test for CLU. The Kingsmen start Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play as they welcome Occidental to Rolland Stadium Saturday night, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m.
Box Score: UWS 49, CLU 24
CLU Instagram: @clusports
Sport IG: @kingsmen_football
CLU Twitter: @CLUSports
Sport Twitter: @CLUFootball
CLU Facebook: @clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release byRyan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director