By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Fans at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's football game against UW-Eau Claire Saturday, Nov. 10, saw a classic collegiate football game, possibly one of the best in the school's history, in front of one of the largest crowds in history.
The teams battled to a 20-20 tie in regulation time as the Pointer defense came to life in the second half after a listless performance in the first half.
Each team scored a touchdown in the first overtime period to go to a second overtime before Ricardo Vega's field goal gave the Pointers a 30-27 victory.
The win gave the Pointers a WIAC championship for the third time in four years and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. With the championship, the Pointers became the second straight WIAC team to go from last to first. UW-Stout did it last year. The Pointers were also the first to go from first to last to first in the WIAC.
For the first time, the Pointers will host an NCAA playoff game, against Bethel College of Minnesota at noon Saturday, Nov. 17, at Goerke Field.
The Pointers had hosted two NAIA playoff games in 1987 when they were members of that organization, winning both games.
Vega, from Palm Springs, Calif., kicked the game-winning 21-yard field goal after Paul Schmitt (Stratford) forced a Blugold fumble on his 11th sack of the year on the Blugolds' second overtime possession.
Things didn't look good for the Pointers at first as a strong northerly wind hindered passing, punting and kicking for the team that had to go into the wind.
Neither team scored on its first possession, then the Blugolds took the lead on a nine-play, 67-yard drive with the wind at their backs.
The Pointers came back with a nine-play, 80-yard drive to knot the score at 7-7, but Eau Claire responded with a six-play, 69-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
After the Pointers closed the margin to 14-10 with a 27-yard field goal by Vega, the two teams exchanged fumbles before Eau Claire scored with just over four minutes left in the half to take a 20-10 lead.
The Pointer defense stiffened in the second half and the Pointers rallied from a deficit as Jason Vander Velden (Winneconne) scored a four-yard touchdown late in the quarter, while finishing with a career-high 98 yards.
Vega added a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, and Dillon Maney (Three Lakes) had two of his three interceptions in the fourth quarter as the Pointers held the Blugolds to 12 total yards in the final period.
The Pointers had a chance to win the game in regulation after quarterback Scott Krause brought the Pointers to the Eau Claire 11 with a 30-yard run. Vega attempted a 27-yard field goal but it was blocked with 41 seconds left.
That set the stage for the overtimes, where each team gets the opportunity to score from the 25-yard line and can make first downs.
In the first overtime, the Pointers took five plays to take the lead, with Lance Gast (D.C. Everest) scoring on a one-yard run.
The Pointer defense looked like it would give the Pointers a quick victory, pushing the Blugolds back to the 28 where it was fourth down and 13 yards to go for a first down. An 18-yard pass play gave the Blugolds a first down and they scored three plays later.
The victory lifted the Pointers to a record of 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the WIAC. The loss was the second for UW-EC, leaving the Blugolds at 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the WIAC and ended their season. The Blugolds did not receive an at-large bid to compete in the tournament even though both of their losses came in double overtime. Their first loss was to UW-River Falls.