The NSIC South schedule opened up on Saturday afternoon in Winona, Minn. at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium, and the Upper Iowa Peacock football team fell 37-7 to the No. 25 Warriors of Winona State University. Turnovers plagued the offense in the loss, as the team turned it over to their opponent four times including a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns. UIU's running game produced, but in a losing effort. The team rushed for 273 yards, but managed just seven points in their lowest scoring total of the season. With the loss, Upper Iowa drops to 3-2 on the season, and starts NSIC south play 0-1. Winona State remains undefeated at 5-0, and 1-0 in division action.
The game started with a scoreless first quarter, and the Peacock defense spent most of the time on the field. The defense was out their for 12:46 of the first frame, but held the Warriors to no points, and continuously got stops on their own side of the field. The scoreless game moved into the second quarter, and both defenses continued to impress.
Winona State put together one of its best drives of the half late, moving the ball into field goal territory, where they converted a 42-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead. The Peacock offense had been struggling to put a drive together, but would look to build some momentum going into halftime. Unfortunately, on the ensuing possession,
Brent Lammers' pass was intercepted by WSU"s Andrew Spencer, who raced 27 yards untouched down the sideline for the pick-six. All of a sudden, the Warriors had all the momentum leading 10-0. The half spun completely out of control minutes later, when the Peacocks looked for one more drive before halftime. Deja vu struck UIU when Lammers' pass was again intercepted on the same route, again by Spencer, who ran untouched down the sideline 65 yards for his second touchdown, and the Warriors took a 17-0 lead into the locker room.
The second half featured dominant defense from the home team. UIU's rushing game continued to impress, with Lammers,
Ryan Parmely, and
Antoine Conner making plays on the ground, but the aerial attack struggled to keep drives going. Lammers finished with just 99 passing yards for the game, on 12-of-26 passing. Parmely led the way on the ground with 103 yards on 17 carries, while Conner added 96 yards on 8 attempts. Conner capped off the game with a 67-yard touchdown run late in the game to make sure there would be no shutout. Upper Iowa has not been shutout in a game since October of 2010, when they lost to Augustana 32-0.
Winona State added two more touchdowns and two more field goals in the second half, as the game got out of hand in the middle of the third quarter. WSU finished with 296 yards rushing and just 130 yards through the air in the win. UIU was outgained by only 54 yards, 426-372, but the four turnovers were the difference in the game.
Jordan Rommes and
Keith Schwickerath led the Peacock defense with 10 tackles apiece. UIU's defense registered 7 tackles for loss in the game.
Upper Iowa will return to Harms-Eischeid Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 7 for a home date with the Golden Bears of Concordia Univerisity, St. Paul. The game gets underway at 5:07 p.m., and will air live on UIU TV and KCRG TV 9.2. Saturday night will be Salute to Service Day for the Peacocks, as they will honor men and women who help serve our country.
