UNI Edges #19 Western Illinois, 30-23

Saturday, November 12

Macomb, Ill.

1 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

5-5 , 4-3

Western Illinois

6-4 , 3-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northern Iowa

Western Illinois

UNI Edges #19 Western Illinois, 30-23

11/12/2016 5:09:00 PM | Football

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill. – The University of Northern Iowa football program edged out the Western Illinois Fighting Leathernecks on Saturday afternoon, picking up a 30-23 win over the top-25 ranked team. UNI improved to 5-5 overall and 4-3 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

UNI held the Fighting Leathernecks to just 96 yards on the ground, the third game in the last four UNI has held its opponent to under 100 yards rushing. On the other side of the ball, UNI racked up 344 total yards on offense, the second game in a row for the Panthers to achieve 300-plus offensive yards.

Eli Dunne completed 19 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns against WIU, with 79 of his yards going to freshman Jalen Rima. Michael Malloy led the Panthers in rushing yards with a career-high 19 carries for 92 yards and two scores.

Duncan Ferch led the team in tackles with a career-high 11 with 10 of them being unassisted. D'Shawn Dexter, Jared Farley and A.J. Allen all turned in eight tackles each with Dexter coming away with a key fumble recovery. Turning in one of the most complete games of the year, Karter Schult finished with six tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss, also notching his first-career blocked kick and a forced fumble.

UNI scored on its opening drive after choosing to receive to start the game. UNI drove down field for 78 yards on 11 plays, capped off by a two-yard rushing touchdown from Malloy. He started the drive with a 19-yard rush and had his hands on the ball for the last play of the drive to give UNI the 7-0 lead with 9:56 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers took a 13-0 lead with less than five minutes to play in the second quarter when Dunne found Logan Cunningham wide open on the outside for a nine-yard touchdown. It ended another long drive for UNI, racking up 12 plays for 50 yards and 6:35 off the clock.

UNI upped the score to 20-3 on its second half opening drive on a three-yard pass from Dunne to Daurice Fountain. The play was set up by a 51-yard catch by Rima to the Western Illinois three-yard-line, putting the Panthers on a first-and-goal situation. It ended a five-play drive for 80 yards with 11:00 left in the third quarter.

Western Illinois scored its first touchdown of the game to make it 20-9 with 3:49 left in the third quarter on a two-yard pass from Sean McGuire to Isaiah Lesure. Schult came up with a block on the PAT, officially ending the 17-play drive for 75 yards, taking 7:35 off the clock.

Malloy's second touchdown of the game came after UNI's second forced fumble of the fourth quarter. Rickey Neal came up with the hit on the WIU quarterback with Dexter recovering the ball on the Western Illinois 21-yard line. A few plays later, Malloy found the end zone on a six-yard rush, giving UNI a 27-9 advantage with 7:34 on the clock.

Western Illinois countered, scoring a nine-yard touchdown from McGuire to Lance Lenoir with 6:08 left to play in the game. It ended an 8-play drive for 80 yards and 1:22 off the clock, cutting UNI's lead to 27-16.

Sam Drysdale was able to make it a 14-point game with a 21-yard field goal with 1:58 on the clock, but Western Illinois got the ball back, driving down field for 66 yards to score. The 14-yard pass from McGuire to Lesure cut the UNI lead to 30-23 with just 22 seconds left in the game.

Western Illinois tried for the onside kick, but Ferch came up with the key recovery for the Panthers, allowing the UNI offense to take a knee and eventually seal the 30-23 win.

UNI returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 19 for Senior Day when they host No. 11-ranked South Dakota State. The game is set for a 4 p.m. CT kick.

Post-Game Notes vs. Western Illinois

Captains against Western Illinois: #30 D'Shawn Dexter, #72 Robert Rathje and #93 Karter Schult.
Senior Michael Malloy has had seven rushing touchdowns in the last three games. He finished the game against Western Illinois with two, the fourth game out of the last five he has scored a touchdown.
Senior Karter Schult racked up two sacks against Western Illinois, giving him 33.5 in his career. It moves him into second all-time at UNI, passing Matt Mitchell who had 33.0 from 2000-03.
Karter Schult has 16 sacks through 10 games this season, giving him a career-high for sacks in a season. It also makes him second all-time at UNI in single-season sacks, with the school record of 18 (William Freeney, 1992) in sight.
UNI scored on its opening drive in the first half and opening drive to start the second half.
Senior Michael Malloy rushed for a career-high 92 yards in UNI's win over Western Illinois. His 92 yards was on a career-high 19 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per carry for two touchdowns.
Freshman Jalen Rima finished the game against the Fighting Leathernecks with a career-high 79 receiving yards.
UNI's win over Western Illinois on Saturday was its 80^th win in program history over a top-25 program. It was also UNI's 14^th straight win in the month of November with Mark Farley holding a 49-8 record in November.