The Peacock football team dropped their final game of the 2021 season at the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday by a 42-21 score. Upper Iowa trailed by one score at halftime, but the Cougars dominated the third quarter scoring three touchdowns on the way to a three-score win. UIU wraps the season with a 1-10 mark, while Sioux Falls improved to 8-3 overall.
 
Quarterback Marcus Orr threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns on 16 completions, but did toss one interception. Desean Phillips ran for 84 yards on 24 carries, while Willy Camacho picked up 70 yards on the ground on eight totes and Keontae Luckett ran for 33 yards on nine rushes. Five Peacocks pulled in a catch including four for Alexander Stevens, who accounted for 59 yards and two scores. Cole Ewald added five grabs for 50 yards and a touchdown, while DJ Emsweller snagged four balls for 48 yards.
 
­Joey Rattin accounted for seven tackles to lead the Peacock defense, while Samson Tufui posted six stops including a tackle for loss. Brody Bazile made five tackles with one for loss. Laith Smith got his hands on a pass prior to halftime that Johnston Freeman grabbed for an interception.
 
The Cougars opened the scoring on the game's first drive when Landon Freeman broke free for a 50-yard sprint to the end zone. On the home team's second drive, the Peacocks forced a fourth down field goal attempt from USF. The kick sailed wide and Upper Iowa took over. The Peacocks used a 12-play, 78-yard drive to tie the game. The drive was highlighted by a great mix of run and pass plays that kept moving the chains; UIU picked up four first downs on the drive. Orr capped off the drive with a 23-yard connection to Stevens who kept his feet in bounds and then pushed into the end zone at the pylon.
 
Upper Iowa took their next possession deep into USF territory, but came up empty on fourth down at the Cougar 25-yard line. Sioux Falls took the momentum of the defensive stop and drove 75 yards for a touchdown that gave the Cougars a 14-7 lead. UIU's offense continued to press on the home team driving right back over midfield. Unfortunately, the UIU offense stalled out at the Cougar 32-yard line as the team turned the ball over on downs.
 
On UIU's first possession of the second half, the Cougars blocked a punt and took over at the UIU four-yard line. Two plays later, USF had a 21-7 lead and their first of three scores in the third quarter.
 
After falling behind 28-7, Upper Iowa took advantage of a 54-yard rush by Camacho and Orr found Ewald for a seven-yard touchdown pulling UIU back within two scores 28-14. The momentum wouldn't stay on Upper Iowa's side for long though. Sioux Falls got into the end zone for the third time in the quarter after Orr was stripped at the UIU 30-yard line. After recovering the fumble, the home team needed five plays to cover the distance to the goal line and score.
 
Sioux Falls scored their final touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter pushing their lead to 42-14, but Upper Iowa had one last scoring drive in them to close out the season.
 
The Peacock defense kept their hosts backed up to their own goal line late in the fourth. After a punt, UIU took over at the Sioux Falls 37-yard line. Luckett rushed four times before Orr found Stevens on a 15-yard route for the senior wideouts second touchdown of the game.
 
The Cougars rushed for 238 yards and 6.1 yards per carry with four rushes ending in the end zone. Sioux Falls added 121 passing yards to push their total offense to 359 yards on the afternoon. On the other side, the Peacocks tallied 336 yards on the day with 154 coming on the ground and 182 in the air, but the Peacocks only had one drive start outside of their own 40-yard line, and it was their last one of the game. USF had solid starting position most of the day with five of their drives starting at their own 40 or better including three possessions in UIU territory.