Sept. 5, 2009
Final Stats
For the second week in a row, the Upper Iowa football team played as the visiting team as they travelled to Bismarck, North Dakota and battled the Marauders of the University of Mary in the first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game for both teams of the 2009 season. Although UIU took a 24-20 lead into the halftime break, the Peacocks couldn't hold on and dropped the contest 48-31 to U-Mary.
The Peacocks found the scoreboard early as sophomore running back, Jordan Otdoerfer, returned the opening kickoff 86 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the U-Mary 2 yard line. Three plays later, Otdoerfer caught a 2-yard pass from quarterback Ben Curran to put the Peacocks on top early, 7-0.
The Marauders bounced right back and scored a touchdown of their own on their first possession of the game before UIU marched 53 yards in 13 plays to set up a Jason Price 32-yard field goal. At the end of the first quarter, the Peacocks led 10-7.
U-Mary took the lead back on the first play of the second quarter when the Marauders capped off an 8-play drive of their own with an 8-yard touchdown pass. But the Peacocks would storm right back on the very next possession and top off a 9 play, 60-yard drive when Curran connected with Bobby Davis Jr., for a 13-yard score.
A few possessions later, the Peacocks put together a short four play, 45-yard drive which ended with a Curran 2-yard rushing touchdown giving UIU a 24-14 lead. However, U-Mary would put a scoring drive together before halftime to narrow the halftime margin by six to 24-20 due to the missed extra point.
After halftime, the Upper Iowa offense went silent as U-Mary posted 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take the lead going into the fourth, 41-24. Upper Iowa tossed back-to-back interceptions in the quarter, the first by backup quarterback Kirby Hovden, who replaced Curran after an injury, and the second by Curran on the next UIU possession.
UIU scored just once more the rest of the game which came early in the fourth quarter when the Peacocks drove 100 yards on 9 plays which was ended when running back Kinon O'Neal punched in a one-yard score to pull the Peacocks back within 10 points at 41-31.
However, UIU wouldn't get any closer as a late fourth quarter U-Mary touchdown finalized the scoring at 48-31.
Curran completed 29 of his 42 passing attempts for 324 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 10 yards and a touchdown. Curran's favorite target on the afternoon, Otdoerfer, caught eight passes for 47 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 41 yards on 12 attempts. He also returned four kickoffs for 126 yards.
Jessie Hubbard led all receivers in yards as he caught six passes for 81 yards. La'Mont Williams recorded 66 yards on five grabs while Bobby Davis Jr. caught three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Defensive back Nate Curran led all Peacocks in tackles as he recorded 12 tackles for the afternoon. Linebacker Aaron Miller chipped in 10 while safety Dominique Jackson registered five tackles and an interception.
Upper Iowa will host their home opener next Saturday, September 12 as the Wolves of Northern State visit Eischeid Stadium in Fayette for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Last season the Peacocks defeated Northern State in Aberdeen, 36-31. The Wolves will enter the contest with an 0-2 (0-1 NSIC) record after falling at home this afternoon to Winona State, 52-17.
