Back-to-Back Days, Back-to-Back Ranked Wins for the Peacocks
Written by Luke Hanson, Collegian staff
Photo by: Myah Brinker, UIU student
The weekend of September 20-21 will be one to remember for a while for Peacock Athletics. Peacock Football and Peacock Men’s Soccer each picked up a win over a ranked opponent on the weekend, marking the first ranked win since 2018 on the gridiron and the first ranked win since 2023 on the pitch for Peacock Athletics.
A road trip to Houghton, Michigan, is never easy, both in the route traveled and the opponent at hand. Upper Iowa came into the weekend with a 1-1 record, riding a high after a 58-14 demolition of South Dakota Mines at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. The hosts, Michigan Tech, had won three straight games to open the season, including a win over #16 Bemidji State and found themselves ranked #24 in the nation.
Things didn’t start the greatest for the Peacocks, as a first quarter fumble and interception saw Michigan Tech take a 7-0 lead into the second quarter. The turnaround for the Peacocks came soon enough though, as a 15-play, 75-yard drive was capped off by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Darryl Overstreet Jr. to Mante Morrow.
On the Peacocks’ next drive, it was Eddie Burgess who came up big, picking up a 12-yard gain on a 3rd-and-1 before capping the drive with a nine-yard touchdown to give the Peacocks a 14-7 lead.
After the Peacocks’ defense forced a second consecutive punt, the offense got back to work, scoring a touchdown on a third-straight drive with Logan Rosauer getting into the endzone just ahead of halftime.
The 21-point explosion in the second quarter for Upper Iowa would be all it took offensively, as the game shifted into a defensive battle. Michigan Tech’s lone second half touchdown came on the opening drive out of the break, but the Huskies’ next two drives were halted on 4th down conversion attempts.
With under two minutes to go, the Peacocks iced the game as they drew an offside call against the Michigan Tech defense. Seconds later, Overstreet would kneel the ball out and the Peacocks were celebrating their first win over a ranked opponent since 2018’s upset over then-#11 Winona State at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. The win brought Peacock football above .500 on the season and surging into GLVC play while also setting the stage for a men’s soccer showdown in Fayette the following day.
An up-and-down start to the year for Upper Iowa Men's Soccer saw the Peacocks sitting at a 1-3 record heading into the team’s GLVC home opener on September 21. With the 23rd ranked team in the nation, Lewis, taking on the Peacocks in Fayette, the stage was set for an important conference matchup early on in the season.
With 18 total goals across the Peacocks’ first four matches of the season and an exciting first ten minutes that saw both keepers called into action, a high-scoring matchup seemed likely. The visiting Flyers saw a goal called back in the 19th minute due to an offside call and seemed to be the stronger of the sides through 20 minutes.
Head coach Jason Carlson went to his bench to find a boost, bringing on Gerardo Romo and Jonah Bowen-Burt 25 minutes into the game. A minute later, forward Abraham Navarro found himself with a bit of space on the edge of the 18-yard box, firing a shot that looked as if it would break the deadline. It came smashing off the underside of the crossbar, but bounced away from goal, keeping the game scoreless. Navarro wouldn’t be denied though, scoring just a minute later as he found himself as the recipient of a long throw-in from Reilly Moore. Needing just the slightest touch, Navarro flicked the ball up and over the Lewis goalkeeper with a header, officially scoring his first collegiate goal in the 29th minute.
The 1-0 scoreline stood through 45 minutes, as both teams went to the halftime locker rooms with plenty yet to play for. Holding the lead, the Peacocks’ defense was called into action plenty throughout the second half as the Flyers pushed on. Senior captain Dexter Garrett was the most active among the back line, winning countless headers and clearing the ball off the goal line late on in the second half. Though the Peacocks never could find a second goal, it was a strong all-around performance for 90 minutes that eventually got the home team over the line.
Navarro’s goal wound up being the only one of the match, as Upper Iowa’s 1-0 win marked the first victory over a ranked opponent for the program since a 2-0 upset of then-#7 UIndy on October 23, 2023. Combine the men’s soccer victory over Lewis with the football team’s Homecoming-spoiling win on the road against Michigan Tech, and it doesn’t get much better than that as a Peacock Athletics supporter.