Upper Iowa University Athletics

BOLIVAR, Mo. - Upper Iowa football (4-3, 3-1 GLVC) rushed for a season-high 252 yards to pick up its third straight win over Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (4-4, 3-2 GLVC), 42-23. That marks UIU's largest margin of victory in a game this season, breaking the five-game streak of games decided by two points or less. 

UIU had four different rushers get in the end zone, led by running back RJ Wells with 17 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown. Senior quarterback Zamar Wise totaled 61 yards on nine attempts, Ronald Wilson Jr. had 41 yards on seven carries and a touchdown and Jayden Gordon had 39 yards on nine carries with a score. 

With Southwest Baptist leading 3-0 late in the first quarter, Wise got the offense rolling with a 20-yard completion to wide receiver Camden Hungerholt. A few plays later into the second quarter, Wells made some shifty moves to scamper for 21 yards into the end zone for the first touchdown of the day. 

Back-to-back sacks by defensive end Demontay Mack, with an assist on the second one from linebacker Evan Dorn, stopped the Bearcat offense. A 22-yard punt return by Braylon Kammrad set UIU up at the SBU 38-yard line. The Peacock offense capitalized with a six-yard rushing touchdown by Wilson Jr. for the two-score lead. 

After another quick SBU three-and-out, the Peacocks moved the ball once again, aided by a 20-yard completion to Gordon. The junior running back later capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. A missed field goal late in the half by the Bearcats kept Upper Iowa in the lead, 21-3, going into the locker room. 

The Peacocks scored all 21 first-half points in the second quarter, the team's most in a single quarter this season. Upper Iowa is outscoring opponents 79-29 in the second quarter, the most in any quarter for the team this year.

Wise was sacked on third down of the opening drive of the second half, and Southwest Baptist capitalized with a nine-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, cutting the lead to 11 points. 

The UIU offense rebounded with a methodical 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took up 7:33 of game clock to keep the high-powered Bearcat offense off the field. On 4th-and-2 from the SBU 35, Wise found Wilson Jr. for a 16-yard gain. Two plays later, Wise threw a go-ball to junior receiver Merv Amazan in the end zone for the 28-10 lead. 

SBU's offense kept its momentum going, scoring on an 11-yard passing touchdown by Cooper Owens to Peyton Rasmussen to trail, 28-16, after just a 2:08 drive. The Bearcat defense got a stop, giving the offense the opportunity to cut UIU's lead to a score from its own 11-yard line with 10:49 to go. 

On 3rd-and-9, Peacock defensive back Nevan Foss forced a fumble by Owens, giving the Peacocks the ball at the SBU 23-yard line. After August Stock caught a 13-yard pass earlier in the drive, the senior punched in a 2-yard score on a sneak for the 35-16 advantage. 

A mishandled lateral on the kickoff gave the Peacocks the ball right back at the 10-yard line. Wise found Hungerholt in the flat for the 10-yard score a few plays later. After a late Southwest Baptist touchdown, the Peacocks were able to run out the rest of the clock. 

Wise finished the game 11-of-18 (61.1%) for 126 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He completed passes to seven different receivers. Hungerholt finished with three catches for 29 yards, and LJ Nyenow Jr. had two catches for 21 yards.

Dorn led the Peacock defense in tackles for the third straight game with 12 (four solo) and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Kammrad posted eight tackles with a team-high six solo tackles and a sack. Michael Mulherin and Jalen Hodo each had seven tackles. Daniel Robinson totaled six tackles, a sack and forced a fumble.

The Peacock defense totaled a season-high four sacks on Owens, who finished the game 22-of-34 for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The Peacocks held the second-leading rusher in the conference, Jobe Smith, to just 50 yards on 11 carries. SBU's 302 total yards were their second-lowest this season. 

UIU controlled the time of possession 34:26-25:24 with over nine minutes of possession time in each of the last three quarters. The Peacocks also had a 14-0 advantage in points off of turnovers for the second straight week. 

Upper Iowa outgained the Bearcats 378-302 with a 252-107 advantage in the rushing game. Both teams totaled 24 first downs, but 17 of UIU's first downs were rushing compared to only nine for Southwest Baptist. 

This marks the first road win for the Peacocks this season, snapping a four-game losing skid on the road dating back to last season. Upper Iowa's last road victory was at William Jewell (Mo.) on Oct. 25, 2025. This was also UIU's first 40-point scoring game of the season, and the first since the 2025 Quincy game on Nov. 8.

With the win, the Peacocks are in a three-way tie with William Jewell (4-2, 3-1 GLVC) and Truman State (Mo.) (3-4, 3-1 GLVC) in the conference standings. UIU will break the tie with William Jewell as the team goes for its 10th-straight home win next weekend on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. in Harms-Eischeid Stadium. The Cardinals lost 52-10 in a nonconference contest to Northeastern State (Okla.) (4-3) on Saturday.