Upper Iowa University Athletics

FAYETTE, Iowa - The Peacock defense forced four turnovers and scored a touchdown in UIU's (3-3, 2-1 GLVC) 21-19 homecoming victory over Truman State (Mo.) (2-4, 2-1 GLVC) on Saturday. With the win, the Peacocks continue to control their own destiny in the GLVC Championship race. 

UIU trailed 10-0 with the help of back-to-back three-and-outs by the Peacock offense. A rushing touchdown after a 12-play drive by Madden Irving and a 38-yard field goal by Diego Perez gave Truman that lead early in the second quarter. 

A few drives later, a 20-yard completion to Camden Hungerholt finally sparked the Peacock offense. A Jayden Gordon seven-yard rush plus a Bulldog facemask set Upper Iowa up at the seven-yard line. Gordon punched it in on the very next play. 

Two plays into the next drive, the Peacock defense forced its first turnover. Daniel Robinson stripped Irving of the ball, which was picked up by Brycen Hendrix, who scooped and scored from 47 yards out. That put the Peacocks up 14-10, and UIU led 14-13 at halftime after another Perez field goal. 

On the first drive of the second half, junior defensive back Aaron King picked off Truman quarterback Dylan Hair. The Peacock offense got going, as Gordon had a 28-yard rush to set UIU up at the Truman State 14-yard line. After a pass interference by the Bulldogs in the end zone, Gordon punched in another touchdown from two yards out for the 21-13 lead. 

The Bulldogs put together one more drive midway through the fourth quarter as Luke Allen caught a 28-yard pass from Hair to trail 21-19. Evan Dorn and Braylon Kammrad sandwiched Truman receiver Adam Hall in the end zone to force the incompletion on the two-point conversion to keep the Peacocks in the lead.

After two quick first downs, UIU had to punt on 3rd and 13. Jalen Hodo sealed the game on the second play of the final Bulldog drive with an interception off a Truman tip. 

Hodo, King and Jackson Wacha all recorded interceptions for the Peacocks in the second half. Dorn led the Peacock defense for the second straight week in tackles with 10 (five solo). Hodo had seven tackles (four solo), Robinson had seven tackles (two solo) and Yashua Pettis-Taylor had seven tackles (two solo). 

Truman State outgained the Peacocks 324-175, but UIU had a 14-0 advantage scoring off of turnovers. The Peacocks ran for 93 yards while Truman State ran for 96, but UIU gained 144 yards on the ground before finishing with 93 net rushing yards. 

Gordon totaled 56 yards on the ground with two touchdowns. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Wise totaled 40 rushing yards despite gaining 66, as his final numbers were skewed by an intentional 17-yard loss to help run out the clock. He was 11-of-19 passing for 82 yards. 

Hungerholt led the Peacocks in receiving with two catches for 23 yards. Ronald Wilson Jr. had three catches for 21 yards.

Hair finished the game 18-of-30 with 228 passing yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Irving totaled 43 yards on the ground and 53 yards receiving to be the Bulldogs' top rusher and receiver. The sophomore running back ranked third in the GLVC entering the game in rushing, averaging 95.4 yards per game. 

This marked the third straight homecoming win for the Peacocks dating back to 2024. This was the first win for Upper Iowa against Truman State in program history, snapping a six-game losing skid dating back to 1941. 

Upper Iowa has now played five straight games this season with a margin of victory of two points or less. This is the first time that has ever happened in program history. 

The road doesn't get any easier as the Peacocks face the two other one-loss teams in conference play over the next two weeks. The Peacocks head to Bolivar, Missouri, next week on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. to face Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (4-3, 3-1 GLVC). The Peacocks are back in Harms-Eischeid Stadium in two weeks on Oct. 24 against William Jewell (Mo.) (4-1, 3-1 GLVC). With today's win, there are no remaining undefeated teams in GLVC play.