Upper Iowa Rushes Past SMSU 37-29

FAYETTE, IOWA: Upper Iowa University rushed for 335 yards and held a nearly 2 to 1 time of possession and held off a late Southwest Minnesota State charge to earn a 39-27 victory in Fayette, Iowa, on Saturday.

Upper Iowa built a 27-0 lead after three quarters of play and limited the SMSU offense to just three first downs after 45 minutes of play. SMSU would finally break through in the fourth quarter scoring 27 points and racking up 11 first downs but it wasn't enough as the Peacock offense and defense made enough plays to hold on.

Upper Iowa improves to 3-4 overall, 2-3 NSIC while SMSU drops to 2-5 overall, 2-3 NSIC.

Upper Iowa finished the game with 564 yards of total offense and held a 39:16 to 20:44 time possession advantage in earning its second straight victory.

Trailing 27-0 early in the fourth quarter, SMSU got on the board with 13:58 left in the game as junior Josh Shudlick connected with sophomore Derek Townsend on a 80-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 27-6. After SMSU recovered the on-side kick, the Mustangs moved down the field in six plays covering 58 yards with Shudlick capping the drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman Brett Ballantine. Following an Upper Iowa defensive touchdown to push the lead to 33-13 with 5:21 left, SMSU came right back as Shudlick found junior Whenson Felix wide open for a 70-yard touchdown pass to pull SMSU to within 33-20 with 5:02 remaining.

UIU would recover an SMSU on-side kick and then would push the lead to 39-20 as T.C Hicks scored from 15 yards out with 3:48 left. SMSU would cap the scoring with 3:01 remaining as Shudlick found Ballantine open from 15 yards out to cut the Peacock lead to 39-27. UIU would recover the ensuing SMSU on-side kick and then would run out the clock to secure the win.

Shudlick finished the game with a career-high 372 yards passing completing 21 of 37 passes . He also finished with a career-high four touchdowns. Junior Matt Fischer had a team-high seven receptions for 82 yards. Ballantine had three catches for 52 yards and two touchdowns while Townsend had five receptions for 105 yards. Felix finished with a career-high 118 yards on three catches.

Mustang junior Tyler Reed recorded a career-high 17 tackles to pace the defense while senior Tyler Fischer also had a career-high with 15 tackles. Sophomore Bryce Haessly finished with 13 tackles which was also a career-high.

SMSU will play at Wayne State in Wayne, Neb., next Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

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