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The Upper Iowa University Football Team celebrated the careers of 10 seniors in a ceremony before kickoff on Saturday afternoon. All the Peacock fans in Eischeid Stadium were on their feet and looking forward to a day highlighted by the men standing at the 50-yard line. Northern State University spoiled the celebration as they defeated Upper Iowa 26-20 after trailing 17-6 in the second quarter.
Freshman quarterback, Andrew Wanner, led the Wolves’ offense to 442 yards. The young man was put on the turf time and time again by the Peacock defense throughout the game, but he always got up and a majority of the time he completed passes before getting run over. The Peacock defense sacked Wanner four times, but never rattled the young signal caller. The Wolves took the opening kickoff into Peacock territory and scored the first points of the game on a 31-yard field goal. The Peacock offense answered immediately with a Derek Van Horn 39-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3. Northern State moved out to a 6-3 advantage on a 33-yard field goal. Upper Iowa’s offense wasted no time putting their next points on the scoreboard. Andrew Jones found Ryan Hudgins in stride for a 39-yard pass and catch for a Peacock touchdown. The touchdown reception for Hudgins was his third in as many games. Van Horn added the extra point to put UIU up 10-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Peacocks pushed the margin to 11 points on a T.C. Hicks’ 12-yard run that capped off a drive set up by a 47-yard Hudgins punt return. Eischeid Stadium was rocking and the home fans were having a great time, but the Wolves were not about to let the Peacocks run away from them. Northern State’s offense answered the back-to-back Peacock scores with a 5 play, 59 yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown run by Wanner. The extra point attempt hit the upright and bounced away. The teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime with Upper Iowa in the lead 17-12. The Wolves were in the red zone early in the third quarter but were denied any points as the Peacocks blocked a 42-yard field goal. After the kick was blocked, one of the Peacock defenders tried to field the ball out of the air but accidentally knocked the ball all the way back to the UIU 1-yard line. After the Upper Iowa offense moved the line of scrimmage out to the 5-yard line, they were forced to punt out of their own endzone. The Northern State return man fielded the punt at the UIU 36 and was tackled immediately. The Wolves scored the only points of the 3rd quarter seven plays later on a 5-yard completion from Wanner to Brian Jack. The Wolves went for two but the pass was incomplete and their lead over the Peacocks was just one point, 18-17. Upper Iowa claimed the lead back midway through the fourth quarter on a Van Horn 28-yard field goal which gave the Peacocks a 20-18 lead. Northern State’s offense, led by Wanner, covered 62 yards in 11 plays and scored a touchdown on a Chuck Driscoll 2-yard run. The Wolves went for two points again and were successful as Wanner found Ryan Corder alone in the endzone. After the score, the Peacocks trailed 26-20 with 4:11 left in the game. Upper Iowa’s offense moved the ball quickly thanks to a 37-yard reception by Ryan Hudgins on their first play which brought the line of scrimmage to the NSU 24. The Peacocks would only gain six more yards and Jones’ pass was knocked to the ground by a Wolves’ lineman on fourth down. Northern State took over at their 18-yard line and 2:45 on the clock. The Peacock defense could not stop Driscoll’s power running and the Wolves ran the clock out and claimed the victory. After the game, Coach Mike Knoll had the following thoughts, “There were a lot of things out there that we could have done better. We hit that young quarterback all day today, but he made plays. He threw the ball well today and hit their receivers. You look at the yards gained today for both teams and the one number that stands out to me is 58 yards rushing for us. You can’t win games rushing like that. It’s disappointing because everyone in the program worked hard this week for the victory and we came up 6 points short; that’s a shame. We have to make more plays and put the ball in the endzone. We have one opportunity left to play and get win number four. We will give everything we have for the win next week.” The Peacocks will take the field one last time for their season finale against the Beavers of Bemidji State in the Minneapolis Metrodome NSIC Classic on Friday, November 10th, at 7:30 p.m. Key Team Stats: First Downs: NSU-24; UIU-12 Rushing Yards: NSU-105; UIU-58 Passing Yards: NSU-337; UIU-242 Total Yards: NSU-442; UIU-300 Third Downs: NSU-(7-15); UIU-(3-14) Sacks: NSU-5; UIU-4 Peacock Standouts: Passing: Andrew Jones- 14-31/ 242 yards/ 1 TD Rushing: T.C. Hicks- 13/ 47 yards/ 1 TD; A. Jones- 12/ 4 yards Receiving: Dwayne Croker- 4/ 118 yards; Aaron McFarland- 4/ 32 yards; Ryan Hudgins- 3/ 80 yards/ 1 TD Defense: Richard St. Firmin- 12 Tackles; Chris Spier- 5 Tackles, 3 For Loss, 2 Sacks; Dominique Jackson- 6 Tackles; Anthony Calamita- 7 Tackles; Brandon McKenzie- 6 Tackles; Blake Elyea- 8 Tackles; Vernard Wilkins- 5 Tackles, 1.5 For Loss, 1 Sack; David Epps- 3 Tackles, 1 For Loss, 1 Sack; D.W. Williams- 3 Tackles, 1 Int; Adam Johnson- 3 Tackles, 1 Int |
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