THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL… Upper Iowa football is back at Harms-Eischeid Stadium this Saturday, Sep. 23 as they host Michigan Technological University for a 1 p.m. kick off. The Peacocks head into the game 2-1, while the visitors come in with a 2-0 record. This is the first time in program history that these two teams have met.
LIVE OPTIONS… Fans unable to make it to the stadium on Saturday have several options for following the action. The game will be streamed on the GLVC Network at
https://glvcsn.com/uiu/ with pay-per-view access. Live stats (free) can be found through the link attached with this story. Both options can be found every game day at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.
RECAP OF LAST WEEKEND… The Upper Iowa football program defeated Missouri S&T last weekend for the first time in program history while earning their second straight win of the season. The home team edged out the visitors 38-26 after clawing back from a 13-0 deficit to start the game.
Marcus Orr had a hand on each score of the afternoon, throwing a career-high five touchdown passes. The defense stayed on their toes and produced clutch moments as
John Butsch,
Ben Kamara and
Tyler Owen each recorded an interception. Butch led the team with nine tackles this afternoon.
RJ Wells ran for a total of 66 yards and Monte Morrow accumulated 60 yards receiving.
Thomas Forte converted a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter to open up scoring in the second half, Upper Iowa's second successful field goal of the season.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK… Marcus Orr was instrumental in the team's second consecutive win of the season after throwing a career-high five touchdown passes. He completed 21-31(.667) passes for a total of 234 yards. His efforts earned him the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week.
Thomas Forte earned GLVC Special Teams Player of the Week after his performance in the team's 38-26-win last Saturday. Forte went 5-5 on PAT's and converted a 47-yard field goal versus Missouri S&T, the first 40-plus-yard field goal since 2018 for Upper Iowa.
A GLANCE INTO THE GLVC LEADERBOARDS… A cluster of Peacocks have made an appearance on the GLVC individual statistics leaderboard. On offense,
Mante Morrow is ranked third for total yards receiving with 250 on 13 receptions and
Jayden Mitchell is listed seventh in rushing yards with 150 on 31 attempts.
On the defensive end,
John Butsch leads the conference in tackles with 27 (19 solo). He is one of three players in the GLVC to have more than one interception on the season, alongside Raymari Oggs (SBU) and Sean Mitchell (WJC).
Zacarius Murray is third on the list for pass breakups with three for this year.
INSIDER REPORT ON THE HUSKIES (Courtesy of MTU Communications) ...Michigan Tech travels to Fayette, Iowa, with a record of 2-0, coming off a 28-20 victory against Division III foe Wisconsin-Platteville. In the win over the Pioneers, the Huskies saw 288 yards of offense come from quarterback Alex Fries, connecting on a touchdown pass to Ethan Champney in the opening drive and later earning a touchdown with his legs. Champney led the team once again with 143 yards on 11 receptions. Wide receiver Darius Willis had 10 receptions, producing 123 yards for the Huskies. Champney currently ranks third in the country in receiving yards per game, averaging 145.5 through the first two contests of the season.
On the ground, Will Marano had 20 carries for 59 yards, while Kolby Hindenach had seven carries and a touchdown. The Huskies' defense played a vital role in the victory against Wis.-Platteville, highlighted by Sam Ahern, who accounted for two interceptions on the day. He now ranks first in the nation with 1.5 interceptions per game.
Additionally, Marc Sippel led the Black & Gold with 14 total tackles and the game-concluding interception with 1:05 to go in the 4th quarter. Punter Benden Lach had eight punts on the day, averaging 47.4 yards per punt and four inside the 20-yard line. His efforts awarded him his first GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week honor. He also ranks second in the nation in punting average (48.6).
THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED… After last weekend's victory, there were several key things to note. The last time the Peacocks were 2-1 to start a season was back in 2017 and the last time they had two wins in a season was 2019. Forte's 47-yard field goal was the first 40+ field goal since the year 2018. Lastly, Orr's five touchdown passes was the first time a player had recorded four or more in a single game since 2021.
DOWN THE ROAD… The Peacocks get their first taste of GLVC opponents next week as they begin conference play on the road at William Jewell. The game versus the Cardinals is set for Saturday, Sep. 30 at 4 p.m.
