Sept. 12, 2009
Final Stats
The Peacocks opened their 2009 home schedule in style with a come-from-behind, overtime victory over Northern Sun Conference foe, Northern State. The Peacocks scored first, but the Wolves then put the next three touchdowns on the board to take a 21-7 lead. Both teams added a touchdown heading into halftime to put the score at 28-14 in favor of the visitors. NSU pushed their advantage to 35-14 with 10:28 to play in the third quarter. Upper Iowa's defense picked it up and put the offense in great positions to score. The Peacocks scored the final 21 points of regulation including the tying touchdown with just over a minute to play in the game.
In overtime, UIU took the ball first and scored when quarterback Ben Curran found La'Mont Williams at the goal line for the go-ahead score. The touchdown pass was Curran's fourth of the day. Curran found Jesse Hubbard twice and Sam Epsteen for the other three scores. The Peacocks two other touchdown came on the legs of Epsteen, who ran in from 17 yards out, and Jordan Otdoerfer, was scrambled in from 6 yards.
Place kicker Jason Price became the all-time leader in extra points made at Upper Iowa as he knocked in all six extra point attempts. Price remained perfect for his career and is now 59-59 in his career.
Curran was 23 of 35 passing for 275 yards and he also picked up 31 yards on 3 carries including a big first down pick up on fourth down in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Otdoerfer rushed for 93 yards on 17 carries, while Epsteen picked up 82 yards on 10 carries. UIU rushed for 246 yards on the day. Mike Reddick caught 6 passes for 97 yards, while Hubbard grabbed 5 balls for 88 yards.
On defense, the Peacocks were led by Nate Curran, who made 13 tackles and picked off a Wolves pass. Craig Henry (12 tackles, 1 INT), Shane McComb (11 tackles), Aaron Miller (9 tackles) also made a big impact. Danny Williams and Brandon Clarke also came down with interceptions that played key roles in the outcome of the contest.
With the win, Upper Iowa improves to 2-1 on the season and 1-1 in the NSIC, while Northern State falls to 0-3 and 0-2 in the conference.
Next up for the Peacocks is a road game in Marshall, Minnesota. Upper Iowa will face the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University next Saturday, Sept. 19, at 1:00 p.m.
