Upper Iowa suffered their third loss of four points or less this season on Saturday when the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead held on for a 17-13 win in Fayette. The Peacocks were stopped on a fourth down try inside the Dragon 5-yard line with two minutes to play to seal the decision. After the loss, UIU falls to 1-4 overall with three of the losses coming by a combined 8 points.

The Peacocks scratched the scoreboard first with a 38-yard field goal off the right foot of Jonathan Argueta-Herrera on the team's second drive of the game. Upper Iowa turned the ball over on their first drive with an interception that the Dragons came down with at their own 6-yard line.

After the field goal, Upper Iowa's defense forced a turnover on downs after MSU Moorhead reached the redzone. The Peacocks took the momentum and drove the ball 82 yards on 13 plays over 5-plus minutes. The drive ended with 29 seconds to play in the opening quarter when quarterback Brent Lammers lofted a jump ball into the corner of the end zone from 27 yards away. Alexander Stevens pulled the ball down and gave the home team a 10-0 lead.

MSU Moorhead rallied in the second quarter to tie the game at 10-10 when Jake Richter caught a 19-yard pass from Jakup Sinani and Joe Tjosvold nailed a 40-yard field goal.
In the second half, the defenses of both teams limited the opportunities to score. One of those opportunities for Upper Iowa came in the third quarter when Lammers led a 14-play, 70-yard drive that stalled at the Dragons' 2-yard line. Argueta-Herrera gave the home team a 13-10 lead with a 20-yard field goal. The drive was highlighted by a 26-yard hookup between Lammers and Stevens and a 27-yard connection from Lammers to Keagan Pinter.

On the ensuing MSU Moorhead possession, the Dragons rushed for 45 yards on 8 attempts including a 1-yard touchdown drive by Zach Simons. Penalties, which hurt Upper Iowa on the night, gave the Dragons a pair of automatic first downs on pass interference calls. For the game, UIU was penalized 8 times for 72 yards.

With 4:38 showing on the clock, Upper Iowa got their final crack at the win. The Peacocks took over at their own 40-yard line. After four first downs, the home team was set up at the 13-yard line. Two complete passes pushed the ball to the 7-yard line on third down, but a Lammers rush to the 6-yard line set up a deciding fourth down with just over two minutes to play. Jon Deprey got the call on fourth down and dove to the first down line, but UIU came up just a foot shy at the 4-yard line.

MSU Moorhead came out and gained one first down before taking a knee and claiming the victory.

Upper Iowa recorded 387 yards of total offense fueled by 313 passing yards, while MSU Moorhead tallied 359 yards of total offense thanks to 142 rushing yards.

Lammers threw for 313 yards and a touchdown on 27 completions and added 19 yards on the ground. The senior from Manchester, Iowa crossed over the 1,000 career rushing yards mark in the game.

Stevens hauled in 6 passes for 103 yards, while Brandyn Tulloch pulled in 8 balls for 66 yards and Pinter and Lehman combined for 8 catches and 118 yards.

Defensively, the Peacocks were led by Nic Patterson (12 tackles) and Isaac Barrett (11 tackles), while Mitchel Siech added 8 tackles. Tanner Thompson and Nic Corley both forced fumbles and Thompson recovered one.

The Peacocks will take a long trip north next Saturday, Oct. 5, to face the Beavers of Minot State University at 1 p.m. in Minot, N.D.