The Peacock football team closed out their 2016 season in Mankato, Minn. on Saturday against perennial NSIC powerhouse Minnesota State University. The Mavericks, who have reached the NCAA playoffs for each of the past two seasons, are 10-0 all-time against Upper Iowa. UIU led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, trailed 13-7 at halftime, and stayed within 13 points for the majority of the game. The home team pulled away late to defeat the Peacocks 33-23, and improve their record to 8-3 overall, and 5-2 in south division play. With the loss, Upper Iowa drops to 3-8 and 2-5 in NSIC South action.

The first half was controlled by defense. Both teams started the games with three-and-outs, and after a short UIU punt, the Mavericks put together a drive. MSU went 40 yards in 4 plays to get on the board first, when Connor McKean made a diving catch in the back-left corner of the end zone from 25 yards out. The pass was perfect from quarterback Nick Pieruccini, and the home team led 6-0 after the missed point-after attempt. On the ensuing drive, the Peacocks answered with a score of their own. On the third play of the drive, facing a third-and-10, senior quarterback Dimitri Morales hit fellow senior Jalen Amis for a big 24-yard completion to get the offense in rhythm. Eight plays later, Morales was flushed from the pocket and scrambled to the right side. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. native dove to the corner of the end zone for the touchdown, and the extra point put the visitors up 7-6.
 
For the third straight year, Upper Iowa had a lead on Minnesota State in the first half. In 2014 in Mankato, the Peacocks held a 14-7 lead after the first quarter, and dropped a 45-14 decision. Last season in Fayette, UIU led 10-7 at halftime, only to surrender 31 second-half points to lose 38-10. This year, the Peacocks stayed in the game all the way to the end.
 
Leading 7-6, the defenses buckled down. Upper Iowa had chances to add to their lead in the second quarter, but a pair of Brady Beuschel field goal attempts from 27 and 31 yards away missed and UIU's lead remained 7-6 just before halftime. Minnesota State got the ball with 1:00 to go in the quarter, and after a timeout by the Peacocks, facing a third-and-10, Pierucinni completed passes of 18, 20, and 13 yards to get the Mavericks in field goal range. Pierucinni then scrambled for a 20-yard run to put the ball at the UIU 6-yard line, and after another timeout called by Upper Iowa, the MSU quarterback found tight end Ty Dennis for a 6-yard score to put the home team up 13-7 at the break.
 
Both offenses found rhythm in the second half. After a pair of three-and-outs to begin the third quarter, Minnesota State went back to work. The Mavericks marched on a 7-play, 58-yard drive that ended in a Pierucinni 4-yard touchdown strike to Tyler Johnson to put the home team up 20-7.
 
The Peacocks needed a spark on offense, and they turned to their punter on the ensuing drive. After an apparent three-and-out, Nate Skare lined up to punt the ball away, but caught the snap and tossed a perfect pass out to Jordan Rommes who lined up on the outside. On a fourth-and-2, the pass was complete for five yards to give the Peacocks some life. Morales then hit Amis for 38 yards down the right side line, and followed it with a 23-yard completion to running back Derrick Portis to get down to the Maverick 1-yard line. Portis then took the handoff on the next play, and stretched out for a touchdown to get the Peacocks within one score, 20-14.
 
Late in the third quarter, both teams attempted to add points to the board, but both defensed tightened up with their backs to the wall. MSU drove down to the Peacock 15-yard line, but a sack followed by an incomplete pass got the ball back to the UIU offense after the turnover on downs. Upper Iowa then put together a drive of their own, but Larry Moore intercepted Morales on the final play of the third quarter at the Maverick 26-yard line.
 
In the fourth quarter, the visitors hung in and showed heart to stay with MSU. Upper Iowa, who has averaged nine points per game against the Mavericks in 10 previous meetings, gave up a touchdown drive at the beginning of the final quarter that could have put the game out of reach. Running back Vincent Hammond took a handoff and scampered in from seven yards away to put MSU up 26-14. But Upper Iowa did not quit. The Peacocks answered with a 9-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a Morales 5-yard touchdown pass to Portis. The sophomore running back went out into the left flat, caught the ball, broke a tackle, and dove into the end zone for his first receiving score of the season. Trailing 26-21, UIU was looking for the biggest upset in program history.
 
History was denied as Minnesota State marched on a 10-play, 65-yard drive that used 4:30 off the clock. Pierucinni, facing a first-and-goal, scrambled out to his right, and after 9 seconds of protection, found his target Eric Fuller in the back of the end zone to put MSU up for good, 33-21, with 4:30 remaining in he game. Upper Iowa had one last chance to make a come back, but an incomplete pass on a fourth down attempt sealed the fate of the visitors. On the final play of the game with 13 seconds left, Pierucinni ran backwards and sideways for all 13 seconds and eventually took a safety as time ran out to round out the final score of 33-23.
 
Morales finished the day 23-44 passing for 312 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Portis ran the ball 29 times for 99 yards and a score, while Morales picked up 14 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well. Seniors Amis and MacTaggart each totaled seven catches, with 132 and 80 yards respectively. Rommes totaled 9 tackles, while redshirt senior Zach Gardner added 8 and 0.5 TFL in his final game. Nicholas Corley and Isaac Freese each tallied seven tackles as well. Jordan Wymer picked off a Pierucinni pass on the afternoon.
 
18 seniors played their final games on Saturday, including Morales, MacTaggart, Amis, Gardner, Freese, as well as Darius Cohen, Marcus McCoy, Jacob Wrage, David Esswein, Brian Steffensmeier, Jalen Chambers, Joe McCaffery, Vincent Otdoerfer, Alex VanGerpen, Cameron Vinsand, Kolter Freidhof, Jeremy Bacon, and Matt Sharp.
 
The Peacocks close out a 3-8 2016 campaign, and were 24 points from adding three more wins to their totals. Head Coach Tom Shea closes out his 8th year with the program, and will look to reload at key positions to improve on their record next season. 2016 marks the first time in four years that UIU finished under .500.