The Peacock football team earned their sixth win of the season on Saturday afternoon at a chilly Harms-Eischeid Stadium in Fayette. Upper Iowa matched up with the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University for Homecoming 2017 and came away with a key 31-20 victory. The key to the win was the ground game, as the team rushed for 365 yards and all four touchdowns en route to the victory. With the win, Upper Iowa improves to 6-3 on the season, while SMSU drops to 2-7 on the year.
 
During last week's win at Augustana, Upper Iowa suffered an injury at the quarterback position. Junior Brent Lammers went down with an ankle injury, and was out of the lineup on Saturday because of it. UIU turned to redshirt freshman Kyle Domin, who made his first career start, and the Peacocks found a way to keep their momentum going. Domin finished with 26 carries on the ground for 111 yards and two scores to help guide the Peacocks to victory. Domin teamed up with Ryan Parmely in the run game, who ran for a career-high 250 yards on 43 carries and a pair of touchdowns as well. The 250 yards is the most since Chris Smith ran for 258 yards against Sioux Falls in 2013. The rushing total ranks as the fourth-best performance in UIU history.
 
The Peacock defense was dominant once again as well. Upper Iowa made SMSU completely one-dimensional as they held their guests to just 20 total yards rushing for the day. For the day, UIU outgained the Mustangs 446 to 298, and held a 41:27 to 18:33 advantage in time of possession.
 
The first quarter was scoreless despite Upper Iowa dominating the frame. After a blocked punt by the Mustangs, SMSU had the ball at the UIU two-yard line with first-and-goal. Upper Iowa held strong making a goal line stand to keep the game scoreless. That set the tone for the Peacocks.
 
In the second quarter, Parmely broke the scoreless tie with a six-yard touchdown run to put Upper Iowa up 7-0. The Peacocks continued to dominate on defense with another fourth-down stop later in the quarter, and the offense put together a key drive at the end of the half to take all the momentum with them into the locker room. Domin capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run with just 14 seconds before halftime to give UIU a 14-0 lead.
 
Southwest Minnesota State found more rhythm on offense in the second half through the air, and showed it right away as they connected for a 43-yard touchdown pass to get on the board. Upper Iowa answered with another touchdown run from Parmely, this time from five yards away to put the Peacocks back up two scores.
 
Brady Beuschel, UIU's all-time leader in extra points and field goals made, added to his total with a career-long 42 yard make late in the third quarter to push the lead to 24-7. SMSU connected through the air just before the end of the frame, but missed the extra point and trailed 24-13 at that point. Domin scored at the beginning of the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown to push the lead to 31-13, and the Peacocks would hold on for the 31-20 victory.
 
Upper Iowa ran the ball 71 times on Saturday, and threw the ball just 13 times as well. Domin finished 9-13 through the air for 81 yards, and did not make a mistake with an interception. The quarterback was efficient and used his excellent rushing attack to guide the team to the win. Third downs were key as well as UIU finished 12-of-19 on third downs, while SMSU was held to just 4-of-13 on money downs. UIU finished 4-of-5 in the red zone as well.
 
Defensively, Tanner Thompson was everywhere, leading the team with eight tackles. Keith Schwickerath, Emmanuel Otoo, and Nate Roemer each added four tackles, while Jordan Rommes, Mitchel Siech, and Nic Patterson tallied three apiece. Jojo Simpson and Christian Ruff tallied 2 and 1 tackles for loss, respectively, as well.
 
The Peacocks have secured their fourth winning season in the last five years under Head Coach Tom Shea. The last time the program had multiple years of over .500 football was a three-year span from 1961-64, and will now look for a seven-win campaign next week when they host the No. 14 Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls for Senior Day next Saturday at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.