Touchdown on fake punt helps Blugolds to victory
Football overcomes 10-point deficit to win on Senior Day
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Sports
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Facing a fourth-and-four situation with just minutes left in the game, Eau Claire probably could have punted the ball away and relied on its defense to keep La Crosse from scoring. Instead, the Blugolds - who were up by three points at the time - faked a punt from the Eagles' 45-yard line.
Lucky for Eau Claire, the ruse worked.
Freshman quarterback Austin Neu, who had thrown just one pass this season prior to Saturday's game, completed a 45-yarder to sophomore tight end Ryan Moertel on the play to go for a touchdown. A successful point-after attempt gave the Blugolds a 10-point lead with just two minutes to go in the game.
"(Our coaches) took a gamble and went for the fake punt there, and it ended up paying huge dividends in the outcome of the game," senior running back Cory Sartorelli said.
Eau Claire ended up beating La Crosse 27-17, but the win didn't come without some turbulence.
La Crosse blocked the Blugolds early in the game, picking off a Blugold pass and limiting Eau Claire to just 35 yards total offense in the first quarter. Conversely, the Eagles finished the first quarter with nearly 100 yards offense and 10 points.
But the Eagles fumbled on their first drive of the second quarter, and Eau Claire's junior defensive lineman Dan Mahaffey recovered it. On the very first play of Eau Claire's ensuing drive, senior quarterback Kyle Paulson connected with sophomore receiver David Goodman for a 93-yard touchdown.
"I felt like that really turned it around and got everybody all fired up for the rest of the game," Mahaffey said of the fumble recovery.
Eau Claire scored another touchdown early in the third quarter to take a 14-10 lead. Later in the quarter, Sartorelli converted a fake field-goal attempt for a first down, and then punched in a two-yard touchdown run on the very next play to give Eau Claire a 20-14 lead.
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