MENOMONIE, Wis. - The University of Dubuque football team opened their season on the road on Saturday afternoon at UW-Stout and lost by a 38-35 final score. The Spartans scored the first points of the game on a 10 play, 75 yard drive in just 3:23 off the clock. Joey Rhomberg found Kali Freeman on an 18 yard pass for the early lead.

The hosts tied the game at 5:24 left of the first period on a 29 yard pass, 7-7. UW-Stout scored touchdowns in the second quarter at 12:01 (a one yard rush), 8:36 (66 yard interception return), UD scored at 7:23 on a 31 yard pass from Rhomberg to Matthew Glennon to slice the lead to 21-14, only to give up a 96 yard kickoff return just 20 seconds later 28-14. The Spartans sliced the lead after Rhomberg teamed up with Freeman once again, this time from eight yards out, 28-21 for the halftime score.

The Spartans would out score the hosts 14-10 in the second half. The duo of Rhomberg and Freeman added a third touchdown with 8:17 left in the third on a 30 yard pass which capped off a three play 76 yard drive in 1:31, trailing 31-28. UD's defense help bring them back when Caden Stimmel intercepted a pass and returned it for the 47 yard TD at 8:01 of the third, to re-take a late lead 35-31. UW-Stout responded by scoring the only points in the final period with a seven yard rush for a touchdown for the eventual final score 38-35.

Quarterback Rhomberg ended the afternoon completing 26 of 44 passes for 306 yards. Noah Roling led the ground attack with 16 carries for 35 yards. Blake Heffron caught 15 passes for 108 yards with his longest going for 27 yards. Kale Freeman grabbed 12 passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns. 

In special teams, Brady Buchmann punted three times for 120 yards and placed the ball twice inside the 20 yardline. Alex McCormick kicked off six times for 266 yards, a 44.3 yard average. Pato Marvite was a perfect 5-5 in extra points.

UD's defense was led by the duo of Davien Flentroy and Caden Stimmell who both compiled 10 tackles and an interception return of 25 yards and 47 yards respectively. Ben Egan grabbed seven tackles as the Spartans ended the game with seven tackles for losses of 22 yards. Etwood Williams broke up two passes and had two tackles.

UD trailed in possession time 24:45 to 35:15 for UW-Stout. The Spartans led with 25 first downs to UW-Stout's 24 and in total yardage gained 371-367.

Next week, Saturday, Sept. 13,  the Spartans host the UW-Platteville Pioneers (1-0) in Hall of Fame game with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Chalmers Field in Dubuque. The Pioneers are coming off a 41-0 win over #22 Aurora University in Montgomery, Ill.