PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Oct. 18, 2026 — The third-ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team delivered a statement performance on Oct. 17, blanking sixth-ranked UW-River Falls 42-0 at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The win pushed the Pioneers to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, while the Falcons dropped to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Platteville struck late in the first quarter, finishing an eight-play, 77-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Uselding to Kristian Gavric. Less than two minutes later, Blake Bangtson broke loose for a 40-yard scoring run to make it 14-0.

The Pioneers added a 21-yard touchdown strike from Uselding to Jaxson Garbisch midway through the second quarter to stretch the lead to 21-0. River Falls’ best moment of the half came just before the break, when Jared Schultz intercepted Uselding in the end zone to deny another Platteville score.

Any hope of a Falcon comeback faded after halftime. Zackary Bothun powered in from one yard out in the third quarter, and the Pioneers tacked on two more passing touchdowns in the fourth to close out the 42-0 rout.

The statistics told the story of a thorough mismatch. Platteville piled up 471 yards of total offense while holding River Falls to 21. The Pioneers controlled the ball for 40 minutes and 42 seconds, converted 11 of 16 third-down chances, and built the kind of field-position advantage that left the Falcon offense with nowhere to go.

The game also marked the return of River Falls quarterback Peter McDevitt, who had missed several games with an early-season injury. McDevitt completed four passes for 28 yards against a stout Pioneer front. Defensively for the Falcons, Noah Nusbaum led all players with 16 total tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, while Schultz added 10 tackles, a sack, and the end-zone interception.

For Platteville, the shutout of a top-10 conference rival strengthens the Pioneers’ standing as one of the elite teams in NCAA Division III and keeps them unbeaten heading into the second half of the WIAC schedule. The details of the Pioneers’ next opponent remain pending.

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