Oct. 10, 2009

Final Stats

Upper Iowa played host to the Warriors of Winona State this afternoon in Fayette. The visitors to Eischeid Stadium came in with a 5-0 record all-time against the Peacocks. Winona State used a 33-point first half to win the Northern Sun Conference South Division battle, 46-9. The Warriors registered 615 yards of total offense, while limiting the Peacocks to 287 yards of offense. With the loss, Upper Iowa fell to 2-5 overall and 1-5 in the NSIC, while Winona State improved to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in conference action.

Winona State opened the game's scoring in the first quarter with a Rayon Simmons, 2-yard rushing touchdown and a 22-yard field goal by Billy Emmanuel. Upper Iowa was able to scratch back three points as Tim Eulitz capped off an 8-play, 54-yard drive with a 20-yard field goal. The UIU field goal came with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter, but that was not the final score of the quarter. Winona State took the kickoff back to the UIU 35-yard line and then scored a touchdown when Greg Preston found Trevin Bune all alone on his way to the endzone. The score gave WSU a 17-3 lead heading to the second quarter.

Upper Iowa's offense kept the home team within one score as they scored a rushing touchdown on their next possession to cut the deficit to 17-9 after the extra point missed wide right. The scoring drive covered 68 yards in 7 plays. Mike Moser sprinted across the goal line from 17 yards away for the UIU touchdown. The eight point margin was as close as the Peacocks would be for the remainder of the game.

Winona State ran away from the Peacocks with 16 unanswered points prior to halftime and 13 more after the break. After UIU's touchdown, the Peacocks had nine possessions, but were held to just 34 plays by the stout Winona State defense. In those 34 plays, the Peacocks managed only 131 yards and turned the ball over four times.

Peacock quarterback Ben Curran threw for 197 yards while completing 15 of his 28 passes. Jessie Hubbard was Curran's favorite target as he pulled in 7 balls for 105 yards. Moser led the running backs with 44 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries. Aaron Miller picked up a game-high 11 tackles, while Vernard Wilkins tallied 10 tackles.

The Peacocks will be back on the field next Saturday, Oct. 16, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Upper Iowa will line up against the Vikings of Augustana College for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. Live options will be available to Peacock fans early in the week at Upper IowaAthletics.com. A televised replay will appear on Mediacom's OnConnections channel, channel 22 in most of Iowa, on Friday, Oct. 23, at 8 a.m.