Five Turnovers Forced UIU Loss to WSU

It was Military Day in Fayette as the Upper Iowa Peacocks hosted the Winona State Warriors on Saturday, October 18, 2014. The Warriors took advantage of five Peacocks turnovers, and handed UIU a 38-19 loss.

Upper Iowa has lost two straight games and fell to 5-2 on the year and 1-2 in the Northern Sun Conference. Next up, Upper Iowa will take the short trip north to St. Paul, Minn. to challenge the Concordia University, St. Paul Golden Bears.

Quarterback Cole Jaeschke completed 23 of his 50 passes for 232 and one touchdown while tossing a pair of interceptions and being sacked twice. Derek Giesking and Lucas Hefty combined for 17 catches and 135 yards, while MacTaggart had three snares for 62 yards. Cole Stephen recorded 9 tackles to lead the team, while Alex Wahl had 8 stops including a sack. Chayz Holt picked off another pass and now has five interceptions on the season.

The Peacocks donned one-of-a-kind camouflage uniforms, but the game did not start as planned for Upper Iowa. On the second play from scrimmage Winona State forced a fumble and two plays later, the Warriors were in the endzone for a 7-0 lead.

UIU quickly answered with a score of their own. Jaeschke connected with MacTaggart on consecutive throws to cover 53 yards for a touchdown. The Warriors picked up two more touchdowns to retake the lead and build a two-score advantage to close out the first quarter.

Down 21-7, Upper Iowa scored the only points in the second quarter with a pair of field goals from Tim Rueb. UIU had climbed back into the game and trailed by one score, 21-13, at the break.

Winina State put the ball into the endzone twice in the third quarter to take a commanding lead, 35-13.

A fourth quarter field goal gave the Warriors a 38-13 lead. The Peacocks' Evan Dornink capped off the game's scoring with a two-yard touchdown run up the middle midway through the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion failed and neither team marked the scoreboard again.