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The Peacocks walked into the Metrodome in Minneapolis with bright eyes and great enthusiasm as they prepared to face the Beavers of Bemidji State. Upper Iowa gave everything they had in their final game, but came up on the short end of a 44-20 count to NSIC Champion, Bemidji State. Head Coach Mike Knoll put it best in his post game comments, “We lost to a better team tonight. We played as hard as we could and a lot of the time we played as well as we could.” Bemidji State completed an undefeated Northern Sun season at 8-0 and won the outright title.
The excitement started on the opening kickoff when UIU’s Derek Van Horn knocked an onside kick off a Bemidji State player and the Peacocks recovered and were in business. The offense took over at the BSU 49, but couldn’t reach the first down line. After the Peacock punt, the Beaver offense ran a wide receiver end around and Tony Schreiber took the ball 86 yards down the sideline for the first score of the game. The Upper Iowa offense answered the score on their ensuing drive. The Peacocks took 8 plays and 1:35 to cover 65 yards and score a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Upper Iowa finished the drive off on a T.C. Hicks rush for 2 yards and the score. Both defenses stood tall and forced punts on the next five possessions. On UIU’s 5th possession of the game, Andrew Jones stood back in shotgun awaiting the snap on 2nd and 18 following a Beaver sack. Jones called for the snap and the ball sailed over his head and into the end zone where he smartly kicked it out of bounds. Had Jones tried to pick it up the Beaver defense may have beat him to the ball and scored seven points instead of the two points they were awarded for a safety. Upper Iowa trailed Bemidji State 9-7 halfway through the 2nd quarter. After each defense forced a punt, the Beaver offense started a drive that seemed to capture the momentum of the game. Bemidji State covered 71 yards in 7 plays and scored a touchdown with 1:37 left in the first half. The drive was capped off by a 23-yard pass and catch from Cory Wardrope to Tony Schreiber, who fought his way into the end zone. The Beavers went for two points to earn a ten-point advantage going into halftime and were successful. The teams headed to the locker rooms with Bemidji State leading Upper Iowa 17-7. The Beavers extended their lead to 24-7 on their first possession of the third quarter when Wardrope threw his second touchdown pass of the day, this time to George Kadlec from 9 yards out. The Peacocks answered again to keep pace with the Beavers. The UIU offense covered 65 yards and scored a touchdown to cap off an 8-play drive. The Peacock touchdown came on Kyle Hosch’s second touchdown grab of the year. Jones completed the pass from six yards out to cut the Bemidji State lead to 24-14. On the Peacock’s next possession, the coaches called for a wide receiver option pass and it was only inches from being a UIU touchdown. Ryan Hudgins caught the backwards pass from Jones and fired a tight spiral down the sideline to a sprinting Allen Conrad. Conrad gave an all-out effort to catch up to the ball and with outstretched fingers just couldn’t come up with the grab. Three plays later the UIU offense was forced to punt and Bemidji State took over on their own 38. For all intents and purposes, the Beavers put the game away with their next two possessions. Following the Peacock punt, BSU scored their fourth touchdown on a completion from Wardrope to Schreiber, their second scoring hookup of the game and Schreiber’s third touchdown of the game. The score came as time was running out in the 3rd quarter. The Peacocks started the 4th quarter with the ball, but Jones threw an interception that seemed to go right through his receiver’s hands and right into the defender’s hands. Two plays later, the Beavers scored their fifth touchdown of the day on a Eurice Watson 9-yard run. Bemidji State led 37-14 after the score and failed point after attempt. Upper Iowa scored their final touchdown of the season on the following possession. The Peacocks drove the ball 67 yards in 1:15 and T.C. Hicks punched the ball into the end zone for his second touchdown run of the game. However, the extra point attempt was blocked. The Beavers added a final score on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Wardrope to close out the scoring and give the Beavers their undefeated NSIC season with a 44-20 victory. After the game Coach Knoll had the following thoughts, “That is the best defense in the conference and we are not good enough to line up and play smash mouth football with that group. Now with another year in the weight room and recruiting, maybe we can come back here, line it up and run the ball against a great defense like this. We got beat by a better football team tonight. We had to pull out all the stops.” Coach Knoll continued, “We are going to get better. We are going to get stronger. We are going to bring in more good players, good people, and good students to get us ready for next year. This year is in the books, but I would be remiss without talking about the year before moving on to next season. We opened this season with a win at Wayne State, which was huge for our program, but the triple overtime loss at Southwest State took a lot out of us and I don’t think we ever recovered. We need to take what we accomplished this year and build on it. We will be more competitive next season and we will win more games next season. The Northern Sun Conference is a high-caliber NCAA Division II conference and I am proud to be a part of it. We are still a work in progress as a football team, but we have shown signs of where we want to get to.” When asked about his seniors, Coach Knoll reflected, “For that group, I am proud of them as young men for every day they came out to the field and toed the line. I expect them to continue to work hard in the classroom as they move toward graduation and their lives after Upper Iowa. This group has sacrificed a lot in the name of Upper Iowa University Athletics and they will not be forgotten.” The football team finished the season with an overall record of 3-8 and a conference record of 3-5. With a core of freshman, sophomores, and juniors, Peacock fans can expect big things from the program next year as they enter their second season in the Northern Sun. Key Team Stats: First Downs – BSU 22 / UIU 12 Rushing Yards – BSU 220 / UIU 23 Passing Yards – BSU 221 / UIU 205 Total Offense – BSU 441 / UIU 228 Sacks – BSU 6 / UIU 2 Individual Peacock Standouts: Passing – Andrew Jones 17-33 / 205 Yards / 1 TD / 2 INT Rushing – Jones 15, 31 Yards / T.C. Hicks 10, 1 Yard, 2 TD Receiving – Dwayne Croker 6, 84 Yards; Ryan Hudgins 3, 35 Yards; Kyle Hosch 3, 25 Yards / 1 TD Defense – Daryl Savage 11 Tackles; Richard St. Firmin 9 Tackles; Anthony Calamita 9 Tackles; Calvin Jones 9 Tackles; Blake Elyea 5 Tackles; Chris Spier 5 Tackles; Vernard Wilkins 6 Tackles / 1 Sack; Brandon McKenzie 4 Tackles / 1 Sack. |
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