GAME THREE || SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012 || 2:00 PM
MOORHEAD, MINN. || ALEX NEMZEK STADIUM
UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY AT MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD

UIU Game Notes | MSUM Game Notes | NSIC Release

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This Week in Peacock Football... Upper Iowa will be on the road at Alex Nemzek Stadium on the Minnesota-North Dakota border this Saturday afternoon.  The Peacocks will take on the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead at 2 p.m.; both teams are in search of their first win. The Peacocks dropped their home opener last Saturday at the newly-transformed Harms-Eischeid Stadium to the Huskies of St. Cloud State, 45-20, while the Dragons fell to the Cougars of Sioux Falls, 45-10, on the road. On offense, the Peacocks will look to exploit the Dragons defense with an aerial assault that ranks 44th in the nation in yardage and 34th in passing efficiency. MSU Moorhead will look to slow the Peacock pass rush that has registered 6 sacks already this season, which is tied for 33rd most in the country.  Upper Iowa will return home for their next ballgame against Minot State University on Sept. 22; the football program will be celebrating Dick Timmerman Day. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
 
Radio...  Upper Iowa Peacock football can be heard throughout the 2012 season courtesy of AM 950 KOEL.  Play-by-play announcer Joe Stasi is in his tenth season as the “Voice of the Peacocks.” He will be joined on the broadcast by Zach Carlyle, a sophomore sports communication major at UIU.  The pre-game show is scheduled for 1:40 p.m.

The Series...  The Peacocks and Dragons have split their four meetings since Upper Iowa’s move up to NCAA Division II.  Upper Iowa took last year’s contest 45-31 in Fayette after losing the previous two meetings on the road with the Dragons in 2007 and 2010. MSU Moorhead won the 2007 contest, 31-28, and the 2010 meeting, 28-24.  UIU won the first meeting of these two teams in 2006 at home, 36-13.
 
No Sophomore Slump…  Cole Jaeschke returns as the Peacock signal caller this season and the sophomore from Moorland, Iowa is off to a great start.  Last week, he threw for 324 yards and 2 touchdowns bringing his season totals to 503 yards and 5 touchdowns; he has posted a passing efficiency of 163.53, which ranks him 24th best in the nation and 1st in the Northern Sun. He also ranks 31st in the nation in total offense and 6th in the NSIC with 272 yards per game.  Jaeschke is completing 73.8% of his passes (45-61) through the first two games.
 

Yards Passing/Career
	Yds.	Years
Jeff Roth	6379	1989-92
Ben Curran	4625	2008-10
Jay Lehman	4544	2004-07
Ben Jass	3876	1999-02
Matt Walshire	3842	1992-94
Clarke Campbell	3230	1961-64
Cole Jaeschke	2949	2011-P
Andrew Jones	2685	2005-06

 
Strong up the Middle…  Senior Tony Leggett led the Peacock defense again with 14 tackles versus St. Cloud State along with Ethan Douglas, who recorded 11 tackles of his own.  The pair of linebackers pose quite a threat to opponent’s offenses. Leggett is 7th in the nation and tied for 2nd in the NSIC in tackles, while Douglas ranks 29th in the country and 6th in the conference.
 
Hefty, Hefty, Hefty…  Sophomore Lucas Hefty has been the main target for Jaeschke over the first two contests.  Last Saturday night, the tight end pulled in 6 receptions for 65 yards and two more touchdowns.  His 15 grabs are tied for 23rd in the country and leads all NSIC receivers in receptions.  Hefty is also tied for 11th nationally and 1st in the conference in scoring with four touchdowns.
 
Put up or “Hosch” up…  Redshirt sophmore Keaton Hosch came up huge in the receiving department last  Saturday reeling in 6 catches for 145 yards against the Huskies of St. Cloud State. Hosch ranks 53rd in the nation and 6th in the conference with 86 receiving yards per game.
 
Enter “Saund”-man... Redshirt junior Ethan Saunders added to his sack total on Saturday by recording one of the two UIU sacks against SCSU. The 3 sacks put Saunders 14th in the nation and 2nd in the conference. Saunders is also tied for 36th in the nation and 5th in the conference with 4 tackles for loss.
 
Laces Out... Redshirt junior Evan Knowlton continues to fulfill his duty as the Peacocks punter and is tied for 16th in the nation and 2nd in the conference with an average punt of 42.33 yards.
 
Peacock Coaching Staff...  Head Coach Tom Shea is steering the ship once again this season, his fourth at the helm of Upper Iowa.  Orv Otten returns as Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and linebackers coach.  Also on defense, Dan Lemke will be with the secondary and Ben Barkema with the defensive line.  Brian Frana will call the plays as the Offensive Coordinator and work with the offensive line, while Jesse Montalto returns to coach the quarterbacks.  Marty Higgins is the lone new coach on this year’s staff and will handle the wideouts, while the veteran and UIU Hall of Famer Dave Barclay coaches the running backs.
 
About the Dragons… Sophomore Brandon Schell leads the MSUM ground attack with 78 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Myles Montplaisir has 157 yards passing, while freshman Adam Jiskra and Tyler Rivard led the receiving corps with six catches each.  On defense, DeJong has a team-best 20 tackles, followed by sophomore Nick Seedorff with 15 and freshman Sheldon Jones II with 12. Sophomore Lomumba Ismail leads with three tackles for loss.  MSUM is averaging 84.5 yards per game on the ground and 143.0 through the air.
 
Last Week’s Dragon Loss at Sioux Falls… The Dragons suffered a 45-10 loss to Sioux Falls on Sept. 8. Freshman Jake Hodge was 10-of-23 passing for 124 yarded and a score and also led MSUM with 40 rushing yards. Freshman receiver Tyler Rivard had four catches for 42 yards. Freshman safety Shea DeJong had a team-high eight tackles to put his season total at 20. Lomumba Ismail blocked one punt to help give the Dragons their best field position of the day. MSUM was outgained by the Cougars, 472-238, and capitalized on three Dragon turnovers in the game.
 
Week 2 Dragon Highlights…
Offense - #16 Jake Hodge  (QB) - Hodge threw for 124 yards and 1 touchdown in his most extensive action of the season thus far. He completed a pass of 40 yards to Matt Birr while also rushing for 40 yards on 7 carries. 
 
Defense - #20 Shea DeJong (S) - The true freshman led the team in tackles for the second week in a row with 8 total and 1 for a loss of 6 yards. DeJong also recorded one pass breakup on the day. 
 
Special Teams - #7 Lomumba Ismail (OLB) - Ismail made an impact on special teams by blocking one punt to set the Dragons up with their best field position of the day. In addition, he returned one punt for 7 yards.