In a wild football game Saturday afternoon in Aberdeen, S.D. the Upper Iowa Peacocks were able to pull away from the Northern State Wolves to earn a big road win in the Northern Sun Conference. Upper Iowa dominated statistically on both sides of the ball, and eventually capitalized on turnovers by converting them into touchdowns to separate themselves. UIU allowed just 154 yards of offense and forced three turnovers in the win. With the week three victory, the Peacocks are over .500 after three games for the fourth time in the last five games. NSU drops to 1-2, and their seven-game home winning streak was snapped as well.

The Peacocks set the tone on Saturday in the game's opening possession. UIU moved the ball down the field on 15 plays, using 4:39 off the clock. However, the drive came to a hault inside the 10 yard line when quarterback Brent Lammers was intercepted in the end zone by Northern State safety Brian Sumption. However, the statement was made that Upper Iowa would be physical all game long.

Upper Iowa's defense forced a three-and-out their first time on the field, and that trend would continue throughout the day. UIU forced 7 three-and-outs on defense in total, and would eventually start taking the ball away as well.

The home team eventually got the scoring started after making a big play on special teams. After the Wolves blocked a Nate Skare punt, quarterback Jake Comeaux capped off a seven-play drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to running back Nicholas Truen. Northern State held a 7-0 lead after one quarter, but Upper Iowa would match that in the second frame.

NSU was driving down the field, when the Peacock defense came up with the game's first turnover. Safety Jordan Rommes was in the perfect spot on a tip-drill interception over the middle of the field, and returned the pick 47 yards to the Northern State 43-yard line. UIU would capitalize when Antoine Conner punched it in from a yard away to tie the game at seven. However, special teams would benefit the home team again, as Zech Culbreath returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to give the Wolves the lead right back, 14-7.

Trailing by a touchdown, the Peacock defense came up with its second big turnover of the game late in the half. Comeaux took off up the middle on a designed run, and was stripped of the ball and Tate Thompson recovered at the NSU 35-yard line. UIU capitalized again, as Brady Beuschel, Upper Iowa's all-time leader in career field goals, connected on a 23-yard try to pull the team to within 14-10 at halftime.

Despite trailing at the intermission, the Peacocks dominated the stat sheet. UIU ran 58 plays for 210 yards in the half, while the Wolves had the ball for just 23 plays and 116 yards. That dominant defensive performance would only get better for Upper Iowa in the second half.

Northern State took the ball right down the field on the first drive of the third quarter, however, the drive ended on a third-down sack by Jojo Simpson, who got to the quarterback twice on Saturday. NSU then went for it on a 4th-and-12, and the pass was incomplete, giving the ball back to UIU. Late in the third, the Peacocks turned to the ground game on offense to get themselves going.

Freshman running back Jon Deprey, who made his first career start on Saturday replacing the injured Ryan Parmely, rushed for 40 yards on the drive, and capped it off with a six-yard trot into the end zone for his first career touchdown. The score gave Upper Iowa the lead, 17-14, and the momentum would stay with UIU the rest of the way.

Isaac Freese sacked Comeaux on the final play of the third quarter, and that set NSU back behind the chains. After a penalty and a tackle for loss, the Wolves lined up to punt at their own seven-yard line. Upper Iowa's Keith Schwickerath, who came in with two punt blocks through the first two games, blocked the punt right at the goal line, and Michael Sparkman was able to gain possession long enough to get a foot down in the end zone before tumbling through to score the touchdown. The special teams score gave the visitors a 24-14 lead, and UIU continued to take over.

Schwickerath was not done. The redshirt senior linebacker sacked Comeaux on the next possession, and forced a fumble in the process that Christian Ruff recovered at the Northern State 18-yard line. UIU again capitalized on the turnover, when Lammers threw a perfect fade to the corner of the end zone, and Jarred Edmonds made a great high-point catch for the score, giving UIU the 31-14 lead.

Edmonds led everyone on Saturday with 11 catches for 143 yards and a score. The highlight of his day was a 39-yard, one-handed catch in the third quarter, when he was being face-guarded, and used his right hand to catch ball and pin it against the defender as he was going to the ground. Lammers finished 27-of-42 passing for 270 yards and a score, while the leading rusher was Conner with 64 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Deprey toted the rock 16 times for 58 yards and a score, while Lammers rushed 15 times as well. The Peacocks ran 54 times for 140 yards, and outgained NSU 410-154.

Defensively, Tanner Thompson led the way in tackles with seven, while Mitchel Siech and Jordan Rommes each tallied five. Siech, Simpson, Freese, Schwickerath, and Marcus Johnson each picked up a sack as well.

Upper Iowa will have a short week for the first time in program history, when they host the University of Mary Marauders on Thursday, Sept. 21 at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. The game will begin at 7 p.m., and is showcased as the NSIC Thursday Night Football Game. The game will be available on AM 950 KOEL radio, UIU TV online, on KCRG TV 9.2 in eastern Iowa, and on Midco Sports Network as well. It will be the first Thursday night game in program history.