The Peacock football team couldn't have asked for a better start to their home game on Saturday night versus the Wolves of Northern State University. Three scoring drives for the Peacocks provided a 16-point lead just minutes into the second quarter, but the Wolves began to claw back and ended the game on top of a 40-22 decision in Harms-Eischeid Stadium. NSU improved to 2-1 on the season with the victory, while UIU falls to 0-3.
 
On the second play of the game, Terrell Powell snatched a ball out of the air that had bounced off a Northern State receiver giving the Peacocks their first interception of the season and the ball deep in enemy territory at the 34-yard line. Four plays later quarterback Marcus Orr found running back Willy Camacho on a swing pass for a 15-yard touchdown pitch and catch for a 6-0 lead after the extra point attempt hit the upright.
 
The Peacock defense continued to play tough forcing a pair of punts on the next two possessions. Upper Iowa took the ball with under seven minutes to play in the opening quarter and put together a 10-play, 59-yard drive that took over four and a half minutes off the clock to score on a 32-yard field goal from Fabien Guillen. The drive was highlighted by big runs from Camacho and Keontae Luckett and a 22-yard pass from Orr to Isaiah Gray.
 
After the Peacock defense forced a third straight punt, the Peacocks took over at their own 26-yard line. Orr hit a pair of big passes to Xavier Saldana (15 yards) and Alexander Stevens (26 yards) surrounding a 32-yard run by Camacho. The three big plays left the ball just a yard shy of the goal line and Luckett punched a rush into the end zone just 14 seconds into the second quarter. The extra point pushed UIU's early lead to 16-0.
 
UIU's defense ran their punt streak up to five straight possessions into the middle of the second quarter, but on those five punts, the Peacocks were unable to notch any return yards. A glaring difference in the team stats after the game was being built during those plays. Upper Iowa ended the game with 0 punt returns for 0 yards on NSU's six punts, but the Wolves gained 113 yards on seven punt returns for a 16-yard average by Jimmy Kepouros.
 
Upper Iowa's offense began to struggle gaining only five yards total over their next eight possessions stretching between their second score at the beginning of the second quarter and their final touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The eight drives ended with an interception, six punts, a turnover on downs and halftime.
 
Northern State took advantage of the UIU offensive power outage and began to rally. The Wolves scored on three possessions out of four over the course of the second and third quarters running back out in front 20-16 thanks to a pair of passing touchdowns from Hunter Trautman and a rushing score by Vance Barnes.
 
After Trautman threw his third touchdown pass to give Northern State a 26-16 lead, the Peacocks battled back and used a 6-play, 79-yard drive to pull back within four points, 26-22. Upper Iowa opened the drive with a Saldana 16-yard catch and a Luckett 15-yard catch from Orr that was helped by a NSU facemask penalty. Luckett then took a second-down handoff 34 yards on a delay draw up the middle and split the secondary to score. Another missed extra point left UIU behind by four points.
 
Northern State didn't let the Peacocks stay close for long scoring on their ensuing possession on a 14-play, 98-yard drive that took over five minutes off the clock to score a touchdown and take a 33-22 lead. The Wolves added an insurance score with 3:02 on the clock when Trautman ran in a 22-yard keeper off a read-pass option play that pulled the defense toward the running back.
 
Camacho (138) and Luckett (46) combined for 184 yards on the ground on just 33 carries for a 5.6-yard average; Luckett had two rushing touchdowns, while Camacho added a score on a reception. Orr completed 21 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Saldana grabbed 8 catches for 73 yards, while seven other receivers pulled in passes from Orr.
 
Joey Rattin led the defense with 12 tackles, while Erik Hansen added 9 stops including a tackle for loss. DJ Green recorded 7 tackles and Brody Bazile registered 6 tackles including one for loss. Isaac Pope came up with a blocked field goal attempt and returned it 24 yards before a penalty on UIU pushed the Peacocks back.
 
In the end, Upper Iowa and Northern State amassed nearly 200 yards of penalties together. Northern State was flagged eight times for 100 yards, while Upper Iowa was flagged 14 times for 97 yards.
 
Upper Iowa will head to Moorhead, Minnesota next Saturday, Sept. 25 for another Northern Sun Conference cross-division game. The Peacocks and Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead will line up for a 12 p.m. kickoff.