Sept. 22, 2007

Box Score

The Upper Iowa football team hosted the Warriors of Winona State on Saturday, Sept. 22, in a Northern Sun Conference match up. The visitors were anything but friendly guests. Winona State and Upper Iowa battled evenly in the first half as the Warriors took a 13-0 lead into halftime, but Upper Iowa struggled in the second half and lost the game 41-0.

Winona State's offense only managed one significant drive in the first half. The Warriors scored the game's first touchdown on an 8-play, 74-yard drive that ended with an Alex Wiese 4-yard run. After the missed extra point, the Peacocks returned the kickoff to their own 22. A clipping call on the second play put the home team in a 2nd and 21. The Peacocks were unable to convert and were forced to punt. The punt was blocked and Winona State recovered the ball on the 2-yard line.

Winona State moved the score to 13-0 on their first play as Darren Davis rushed in from two yards out. The teams finished the half with three straight punts and the Peacocks headed to the locker room trailing 13-0.

The offense for the Peacocks could not get started in the second half. UIU punted on their first two possessions of the second 30 minutes and then turned the ball over on their final four possessions. The Peacocks committed 6 turnovers, while the Warriors had one. Upper Iowa now has 19 turnovers in four games (-12 turnover margin).

The Warrior offense hit on some big plays in the second half and put 27 second half points on the scoreboard. WSU receiver Scott Peters was the star of the game as he finished with eight catches for 148 yards and touchdowns of 59 yards in the third quarter and 38 yards in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Drew Aber turned in a solid game, completing 20 passes in 32 attempts for 299 yards and the two TD tosses to Peters.

UIU's Kevin Linnell threw for 136 yards on 14-33 passing, while T.C. Hicks ran for 53 yards on 16 carries. Ryan Hudgins led the receivers with 43 yards on four catches, including a pair of acrobatic grabs over the middle. Hicks and Hudgins led the team in all-purpose yards with 82 each. The top two tacklers for the Peacocks were Dominique Jackson (11 tackles) and Malcolm Cole (10 tackles).

Upper Iowa (1-3, 0-2 NSIC) will now prepare to travel to Moorhead, Minnesota for next week's NSIC contest with the Dragons of MSU Moorhead. The Dragons are coming off a big win over Wayne State 42-18 and are currently 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.