Oct. 3, 2009
Final Stats
The Upper Iowa Football team travelled to Wayne, Nebraska on Saturday afternoon to battle the #18 ranked Wildcats of Wayne State College. Turnovers, penalties and missed field goals plagued both teams as Wayne State survived an upset bid from Upper Iowa, 24-21, in front of 2,020 people at Memorial Stadium.
The Peacocks came out firing on all cylinders as on the third play of the game's opening drive, quarterback Ben Curran connected with Jessie Hubbard, who then outran the Wildcat defense on his way to a 67 yard touchdown reception. The Peacocks led 7-0 after Jason Price added the extra point.
After the Wildcats answered back with a 22 yard field goal on their first possesion of the contest, the Peacocks drove back down the field, looking for their second touchdown in as many possesions. But a pair of holding penalties forced the visitors to try a 32 yard field goal which was blocked by Wildcat linebacker, Anthony Hale. At the end of the first quarter, Upper Iowa held a 7-3 advantage.
With the Wildcats driving in the red zone early in the second quarter, UIU's Craig Henry picked off a Silas Fluellen pass in the end zone to give the Peacocks possesion at their own 20 yard line. But, the Peacocks were forced to punt after three plays, giving WSC possesion at the UIU 33 yard line. Six plays later, on fourth and goal, the Wildcats punched in a one yard run to take the lead, 10-7.
Upper Iowa put together a nice drive on their next possesion, covering 72 yards on 12 plays, but were forced to kick a 22 yard field goal which was once again blocked by the Wildcat defense. Luckily for the Peacocks, the blocked field goal was picked up and fumbled, returning possesion to UIU at the Wayne State 23 yard line. However, the Peacocks would miss another oppurtunity to put points on the board as a 19 yard Tim Eulitz kick missed wide right.
Just before Halftime, Wayne State missed a 38 yard field goal but a personal foul penalty on UIU gave WSC first-and-ten on UIU's 11 yard line. On the very next play, UIU intercepted their third Fluellen pass and went to the halftime break trailing the Wildcats, 10-7.
The Peacocks came up with a big stop just after halftime as they stuffed the Wildcats on fourth and goal from the one yard line, then after a Peacock turnover, caught a break as Wildcat kicker, Nick Hope, missed a 27 yard field goal. However, the Peacocks' Tim Eulitz would miss a 33 yard field goal on the next possesion to keep the score at 10-7 in favor of Wayne State.
The Upper Iowa defense came up big once again late in the third quarter when defensive back Nate Curran intercepted a Fluellen pass attempt and returned it 32 yards for a Peacock defensive touchdown, putting UIU up 14-10.
Fluellen and the Wildcats responded quickly just two minutes later as Fluellen found receiver Logan Masters on a 30 yard reception to put the home team back in front, 17-14.
Upper Iowa came right back with an 11 play drive of their own capped off by UIU's version of the "Wildcat" offense as La'Mont Williams rushed in from three yards out to once again give UIU the 21-17 lead with 12:35 to play in the contest.
Defense dominated the next few possesions for both teams as both sides were held to punts until Wayne State's Frederic Bruno raced 19 yards to the end zone with 3:27 remaining to put WSC back in control of the contest, 24-21.
The Peacocks final drive attempt ended with a punt after Ben Curran was sacked on third down and the Wildcats held on for a 24-21 victory.
Quarterback Ben Curran completed 22 of his 41 attempts for 224 yards and one touchdown while Hubbard led all receivers in yardage as he caught three passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Jordan Otdoerfer rushed 16 times for 90 yards and caught one pass for four yards.
The Peacock defense forced eight turnovers for the game which included picking off five Silas Fluellen passes. Nate Curran made 11 tackles while returning an interception 32 yards for a Peacock touchdown.
The Peacocks (2-4; 1-4 NSIC) will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 10 when the Warriors of Winona State visit Eb Eischeid Stadium in Fayette for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Winona State defeated Southwest Minnesota State 41-33 on Saturday afternoon.
