Upper Iowa traveled to Winona, Minn. on Thursday for the NSIC Thursday Night Football Game of the Week presented by the Midco Sports Network. Winona State University posted a 28-0 victory over Upper Iowa fueled by tough defense and big plays on offense. With the decision, WSU improves to 2-1 and UIU falls to 0-3.
In the first quarter, Winona State outgained their guests 106-16 in total yards thanks to 76 passing yards by quarterback Owen Burke and 22 from running back Sam Santiago-Lloyd. The Warriors scored a pair of touchdowns in the opening frame including a half-back option from Santiago-Lloyd to Ethan Wittenburg and a Burke 10-yard touchdown throw to Tyler Anderson.
Upper Iowa picked up their initial first down midway through the second quarter as freshman
Myles Herrera took over at quarterback for
Jake Schuman after the first quarter. The Peacocks took their sixth possession into the red zone stalling at the Winona State 11-yard line. Jonathon Argueta-Herrera missed the 28-yard attempt to the left; the miss marked his first miss after seven field goals to open his career that began last season.
Winona State took the ball 80 yards down the field in a little over three minutes after the missed three-point try. Landon Jacobson capped off the drive with a 4-yard scamper into the end zone giving the home team a 21-0 lead. UIU took their final drive of the half back into the red zone reaching the WSU 19-yard line. Unfortunately, a second missed field goal, this time to the right, came off the UIU kicker's foot and UIU went to the locker room down three scores.
Neither offense got much traction in the third quarter as the Peacock defense allowed only 53 total yards and the Warrior defense allowed 98 yards.
UIU began their opening drive of the fourth quarter from their own 44-yard line and put the drive in the hands of freshman running back Levon Bellemy, who picked up 17 yards on four carries in the drive. UIU's drive ended abruptly after the Warriors intercepted a pass into the end zone that came with Herrera rolling left after being chased out of the pocket. UIU had reached the WSU 21-yard line prior to the turnover.
Winona State wasted little time scoring off the turnover using four plays to go 80 yards which was highlighted and capped off by a 59-yard touchdown run by Santiago-Lloyd. The junior running back ran off right tackle into a mass of bodies and then came sprinting out of the pile and outraced the Peacock defensive backs to the pylon.
TURNING POINT... Down 14-0 in the middle of the second quarter, the Peacocks got something started with a drive into the red zone. The team's first two first downs of the game came on the drive and the visitors were building some momentum, but a missed field goal and subsequent 80-yard drive from the Winona State offense pushed the margin to 21-0.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
- Defensive lineman Erik Hansen registered 4 tackles in the game including 3 sacks for a total loss of 17 yards and recovered a fumble.
STATS OF THE GAME...
- The Warriors claimed slight advantages of 18-14 in first downs and 334-261 in total offensive yards in the game.
- Winona State won the turnover battle 3-1 after grabbing a pair of interceptions; each team lost a fumble.
OTHER PEACOCK LEADERS...Mitchel Siech (7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss)…
Brody Bazile (6 tackles, 2 for loss)…
Samson Tufui (4 tackles, 2 for loss)… Jonathon Argueta-Herrera (8 punts, 42.8-yard average)…
Myles Herrera (13-26 for 143 yards, 2 interceptions)… Levon Bellemy (19 rushes, 67 yards, 1 fumble)…
Bralin Simon (5 rushes for 34 yards, 2 receptions for 15 yards)…
Brandyn Tulloch (4 receptions, 61 yards)…
DJ Emsweller (2 receptions for 36 yards)… Alex Stevens (3 receptions for 18 yards)
QUOTABLES... "You can't win without putting points on the board. Defensively, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We had some untimely penalties and gave up some big plays in the first half. In the second half, I thought our defense was pretty good and we shut them down outside of the one scoring drive that included the big run. Offensively, we made some adjustments during the course of the game and we moved the ball at times, but our biggest Achilles heel right now is consistency."
-Head Coach Tom Shea
UP NEXT... Upper Iowa will host Southwest Minnesota State University at Harms-Eischeid Stadium next Saturday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.
