The Upper Iowa Peacocks lost four games by one score or less and were winless through their first six games. The University of Minnesota Crookston has been within a touchdown at the end of any of their games and were looking for their first win of the season and Upper Iowa dominated the game from start to finish and cruised to a 45-24 victory in a Northern Sun Conference game played in Fayette, Iowa.
FIRST QUARTER –
Upper Iowa won the toss and elected to receive to start the game. The Peacocks quarterback, Zach Reader (Fresh. Oak Creek, Wis), was starting his first collegiate game and one would think the Upper Iowa coaching staff would ease the new quarterback into the game, but they did the opposite. Upper Iowa threw passes of three, 10, and 26 yards to start the game. Five plays later, the drive stalled, and the Peacocks Jonathan Herrera (Soph. Des Moines, Iowa) kicked a 26-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
UMC answered with an impressive opening drive. The drive started with a one-yard run, and a 13-yard pass from Jalin Scott (Sr. Houston, TX) to Kyler Banks (Jr. Cannon Falls) and a 15-yard personal foul penalty was assessed at the end of the play to get the ball into Upper Iowa territory at the 40-yard line. It looked like the Golden Eagles drive might be in jeopardy after a short run and a loss of yards on back-to-back plays creating a third and long. Scott found Jonattan Mudd (Sr. Gardena, CA) for a 17-yard strike to keep the drive going. A few plays later, Scott found Nathan Coy (Soph. Sun Prairie, Wis) for a 16-yard pass, and on the next play the two connected for an 11-yard touchdown, and UMC took a 7-3 lead with 6:48 left in the quarter. “We felt good at that time,” said Minnesota Crookston head coach Mark Dufner. “Before the game we were thinking this would end up being a one-possession game. Upper Iowa has played a lot of teams tough here so we thought it would end up being back and forth.”
Upper Iowa’s second offensive drive looked to be in trouble after the first two plays, setting up a third down and 10 situation. Reader continued to impress as he threw a 24-yard pass for a first down to keep the drive going. Upper Iowa had 30-yard on the next two plays, and with 5:07 left in the quarter, they punched one in from two yards out for their first touchdown of the game and a 10-7 lead.
UMC’s second offensive series started with two carries for six yards, but the drive stalled after an incomplete pass, and the Golden Eagles were forced to punt. Alex Folz (Fresh. Spring Grove) had a big 52-yard punt with no return, and Upper Iowa started their third drive of the game at their 38-yard line.
Upper Iowa had to punt, and UMC got the ball back towards the end of the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER-
UMC had to punt again, and Folz had another great punt, this time a 45-yard punt that was downed at the Upper Iowa 48 yard line, but the Golden Eagles were flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty moving the ball to the UMC 37 yard line. Upper Iowa didn’t waste any time as Reader, again in his first collegiate start, found Alexander Stevens (Jr. Detroit, Mich) for a 37-yard touchdown pass for a 17-7 lead 17 seconds into the second quarter.
UMC had another drive stopped after a penalty and were forced to punt after another three and out. The Golden Eagle punt only went 17 yards, and Upper Iowa was starting the drive at the UMC 36 yard line.
Upper Iowa went for it on a third down and six-yard situation and completed a pass for eight yards to keep the drive going. A few plays later, UMC was called for defensive holding, and Reader completed a pass on the next play for two yards and a touchdown for a 24-7 lead with 9:19 left in the half. “They had a short field to work with that first half,” noted Dufner. “We also had too many penalties.”
UMC’s offensive woes continued as they had another three-play drive and had to punt. Upper Iowa had to punt, and UMC’s offense finally showed signs of life. Scott completed a pass of 40 yards to Mudd, and on the next play, he ran for 23 yards. UMC couldn’t handle the success, and the next three plays were a carry for no gain, an incomplete pass, and a sack. The Golden Eagles had to settle for a field goal, and Jared McLemore (Soph. Lucas, TX) kicked a 32-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-10 with less than two minutes left in the half, and that is how the half would end. “We were able to get it to a two-possession game at the half and were hoping to establish some field position in the second half,” added Dufner. “(The field goal) was critical. Getting the ball right away (to start the second half), I thought we’d make it a one-possession game there.”
UMC only had 36 yards rushing in the first half, and Upper Iowa outgained the Golden Eagles 201 to 143 yards in the half. The UMC offensive line struggled, which was evident with Upper Iowa recording nine tackles for a loss in the half, including four sacks. “They were moving the line of scrimmage on us,” added Dufner. “They got a great push upfront. The seams were there and we had a few plays where we were missing gaps so some of those short runs turned it big runs.”
THIRD QUARTER –
UMC started the second half with the ball, and they ran three plays for a loss of four yards and were forced to punt. Upper Iowa’s first second-half offensive drive started at their 48-yard line. On the third play of the drive, Upper Iowa’s Matt McDonald (Sr. Kansas City, Kansas) ran the ball 47 yards for a touchdown for a 31-10 lead less than three minutes into the half.
UMC responded on the second play of their next drive with a Scott 52-yard pass to Coy for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 31-17. “We did have a nice return to set up that touchdown,” said Dufner, “but after that we weren’t consistent enough.”
Neither team was able to do much on their next drives, but Upper Iowa, with six minutes left in the quarter, got the ball back and put a beautiful drive together. On a third-down play, Upper Iowa’s Reader completed a 26-yard pass for a first down to keep the drive going. The Peacocks ran the ball three times for 14 yards, down to the two-yard line. They scored on the next play with a Levon Bellemy (Fresh. Ellettsville, Indiana) two-yard run to give Upper Iowa a 38-17 lead with over three minutes left in the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
UMC had the ball to start the fourth quarter and threw two incomplete passes to start the drive. On the third play, Tristan Robbins (Soph. Muskegon, Mich) threw an interception, and Upper Iowa had the ball back. Upper Iowa was driving down the field, and on the fifth play of the drive, UMC’s Free Borsey (Soph. Bellingham, WA) was ejected for targeting. On the next play, Upper Iowa’s Bellemy scored on a six-yard run, and the Peacocks built their lead to a whopping 45-17.
UMC tried to mount a late comeback with 7:32 left in the game, and they had the ball, and Scott completed two passes for 24 yards. Scott ran for seven yards before completing three straight passes for a total of 28 yards. After an incomplete pass, Scott found Shonte Smith (Sr. Pacoima, CA) for a 33-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play 92-yard drive, and with 4:06 remaining in the game, the Golden Eagles trailed 45-24.
The Golden Eagles tried an onside kick, but Upper Iowa recovered the kick and held on for a 45-24 victory. “Credit to Upper Iowa,” summarized Dufner. “They did a lot of good things here moving the ball. We just weren’t able to get off the field and make the plays when we needed to.”
UMC drops to 0-7 on the year and will host #3 ranked Minnesota State Mankato at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks on Saturday, October 26. Upper Iowa improves to 1-6 on the year and will take on Minnesota Duluth next week.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| UMC | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Upper Iowa | 10 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 45 |
1st Quarter-
11:32 – UIU – Jonathan Argueta-Herrera 26 yard field goal
6:48 – UMC – Nathan Coy 11 yard pass from Jalin Scott (Jared McLemore kick)
5:07 – UIU – Matt McDonald 2 yard run (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
2nd Quarter–
14:43 – UIU – Alexander Stevens 37 yard pass from Zach Reader (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
9:19 – UIU – Lane Canny 2 yard pass from Zach Reader (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
1:58 – UMC – Jared McLemore 32 yard field goal
3rd Quarter –
12:25 – UIU – Matt McDonald 47 yard run (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
11:34 – UMC – Nathan Coy 52 yard pass from Jalin Scott (Jared McLemore kick)
3:31 – UIU – Levon Bellemy 2 yard run (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
4th Quarter –
12:25 – UIU – Levon Bellemy 6 yard run (J. Argueta-Herrera kick)
4:06 – UMC – Shonte Smith 33 yard pass from Jalin Scott (Jared McLemore kick)
