Box Score Photo taken by John Bernau


Box Score

Fourteen seconds.  That's all it took for the visiting Beavers of Minot State University to put a touchdown on the scoreboard at Harms-Eischeid Stadium this afternoon.  On a day that saw two other winless, NSIC North teams upset an NSIC South team, fans were a bit stunned with the start they saw in Fayette.  But UIU took the ball and answered with a 48-yard touchdown hookup between Cole Jaeschke and Keaton Hosch to tie the game on their next possession. 

Upper Iowa capitalized on turnovers and big plays to improve to 2-2 this season with a 26-20 victory of Minot State.  The win pushed UIU into a tie for fifth place in the NSIC South standings with Augustana and a three-way tie for seventh place in the overall standings of the 16-team NSIC.

Hosch and the Peacock defense impressed over the course of the first half.  After the long pass play to Hosch, Steven Sandoval capped off a 10-play, 84-yard drive with a 23 yard field goal to break the tie near the end of the first quarter.  After both quarterbacks exchanged interceptions, the UIU defense forced a punt by their guests as the clock moved under eleven minutes to play in the half. 

The Beaver punt landed ten yards short of Hosch, but took a pair of nice hops right into the Peacock returner's hands.  Hosch, who returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown last week, took the ball at his own 7-yard line and took off up the middle of the field.  A few moves later, the redshirt sophomore from Independence, Iowa had a pair of blockers and only the punter standing between him and a second straight game with a special teams touchdown.  Hosch split a tightening gap between his blocker and a defender trying to chase him down and then devoured the final 50 yards to put the home team ahead by two scores.  After the extra point failed, the Peacocks held a 16-7 lead which remained through halftime.

Upper Iowa pushed their advantage to 19-7 with a 21-yard field goal from Sandoval to open the third quarter. 

Minot State would not go away easily though.  Quarterback Zac Cunha found Porter Sturm for a 20-yard touchdown reception with just over three minutes to play in the third.

Lucas Hefty got into the endzone for the seventh time this season, while Jaeschke notched his eleventh touchdown pass of the season.  The scoring grab came from eight yards out and reestablished UIU's lead, 26-14.

Cunha and Sturm got together one last time midway through the fourth quarter keeping the Beavers within striking distance.  The pair combined for a 22-yard touchdown to the far corner of the endzone to pull Minot State back into the game, 26-20.

The Peacock defense played well and forced turnovers on seven of the Beavers' last 10 possessions including a pair of interceptions by DaeJohn Love as well as one each by Jordan Andera and Tom Nesvik.  Nesvik and Jeff Arends also both recovered fumbles.  The final turnover of the day came with under a minute to play and the Beavers driving toward the redzone.  Love pulled down a defelection and sealed the win for the home team with his second pick. 

Chris Smith returned to the field and the starting lineup today after rehabbing an off-season injury over the first three weeks of the season.  The reigning NSIC Player and Newcomer of the Year rushed for 77 yards on 20 carries and caught one pass for 9 yards.

Jaeschke threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns while running out of the pocket seven times for 48 yards.  Shay Gutman pulled in 4 balls for 86 yards, as did Hosch.  Hefty covered 61 yards on his 3 catches.

Defensively, the Peacocks got a huge effort out of linebackers, Ethan Douglas and Tony Leggett, who accounted for 16 and 12 tackles respectively.   Andera tallied 7 tackles, while Ethan Saunders and Michael Mattingly each wrapped up five stops.

Upper Iowa celebrated Dick Timmerman Day this afternoon and honored Timmerman at halftime of the game for his 50 years of service to college football in the state of Iowa.  He began his career at UIU in 1961 and became the first fulltime Head Trainer and Equipment Manager in 1963.  He was appointed by the late Mr. Eb Eischeid.  This appointment lasted twenty-two years.  In 1982, Timmerman accepted the position of Head Equipment Manager at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.  In 1993, Dick accepted a position as the Head Football Equipment Manager at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.  Timmerman retired from this position in 2001.  In August 2003, Dick returned to Upper Iowa as the Football Equipment Manager. 

Next week, the Peacocks will host the Warriors of Winona State University in the first NSIC South Division game of the season over Homecoming weekend.  The Saturday kickoff is set for 1 p.m.