Cedar Falls, Iowa --- The Northern Iowa Panthers, ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Football Championship Sub-division poll, scored the game’s final 24 points en route to a 41-14 victory over Minnesota State Thursday evening in front of 15,056 fans in the UNI-Dome.
The Panthers rushed out to a 17-0 advantage before the Mavericks scored 14 unanswered points to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 24 seconds remaining in the first half.
After a four-yard touchdown run by Corey Lewis pushed UNI ahead 17-0, Minnesota State sophomore kick returner Kelvin Rodgers, returned the ensuing kick-off 99-yards for a touchdown. Senior kicker Jason Tompkins would convert the point-after-touchdown to cut the UNI lead to 17-7.
The Mavericks cut the UNI lead to 17-14 when senior running back Tory Chappell scampered four yards for a touchdown. The play capped a 10-play, 79-yard drive which covered four minutes and 59 seconds.
After a pooch kick, the Panthers would convert a 40-yard field goal as time expired to take a 20-14 lead into the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, UNI extended its lead to 27-14 after Darian Williams ran for a four-yard touchdown. Northern Iowa added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
“Our goal was to stay toe-for-toe with them,†said head coach Jeff Jamrog. “We rebounded well after falling behind 17-0. Kelvin (Rodgers) kickoff return was huge, we just didn’t get some big stops down the stretch.â€
Minnesota State senior quarterback Ben King completed 28-of-43 passes for 245 yards in the loss. Chappell rushed the ball eight times for 24 yards, while hauling in eight passes for 47 yards.
Redshirt-freshman Oomar Balton also had a good game receiving, catching five passes for 50 yards, while junior Damian Turner caught five balls for 51 yards.
The Maverick defense was led by junior linebacker Blake Freese who racked up 11 tackles, two of which went for a loss.
The Mavericks (1-1) begin a two-game homestand Sept. 6, when they host Peru State at 7:00 p.m. The match-up with the Bobcats will be MSU’s final non-conference test of the season.
NOTES: Ben King completed has now completed 20 or more passes 15 times in his career and twice this season… Northern Iowa now leads the all-time series 12-2-3, UNI has won the last three contests, all of which have been in the UNI-DOME.
