State Champs

Wesley

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
70,923
546
113
Omaha
UNI Runs to 45-7 Victory Over Drake :: The Panthers rushed for 345 yards and captured the mythical state title.

UNI Runs to 45-7 Victory Over Drake

The Panthers rushed for 345 yards and captured the mythical state title.
spacer.gif


[FONT=arial, verdana]http://unipanthers.cstv.com/email2f...ml?URL=/sports/m-footbl/recaps/092207aaa.html[/FONT]


1389222.jpeg


Senior linebacker Araf Evans scooped up a fumble and rumbled 35 yards for a touchdown in UNI's 45-7 win over Drake on Saturday.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]Football Home[/FONT]
spacer.gif

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Sans Serif]HEADLINES[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif][SIZE=-2]UNI Runs to 45-7 Victory Over Drake [/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=-2][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]UNI Football Adds Three More Television Games [/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-2][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]Corey Lewis Named CollegeSportsReport.com National Player of the Week [/FONT][/SIZE]

spacer.gif





Stats | Photo Gallery
media-icon-photogallery.gif



DES MOINES, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa football team topped Drake 45-7 to take home the "Mythical" State Title and move its record to 4-0 on the season. The Panthers piled up 524 yards of total offense, including 345 yards rushing and held the Bulldogs to just 40 yards on the ground.

Tailbacks Corey Lewis and Darian Williams proved to be an elusive double-threat in the Panther backfield, combining for 188 yards rushing on 26 carries and a touchdown. Williams scored UNI's third touchdown of the afternoon and needed just six carries to pile up 80 yards. Lewis carried 20 times for 108 yards and tallied four receptions for 78 yards to lead UNI in both rushing and receiving for the second week in a row.

Quarterback Eric Sanders completed 11-14 attempts for 167 yards and a touchdown and rushed eight times for 30 yards and a touchdown. Johnny Gray caught Sanders' touchdown pass on an 11-yard toss in the second quarter. Gray caught three balls for 42 yards and a score.

Sanders put the game's first points on the board with a two-yard touchdown lunge late in the first quarter. The senior scored on an option rush to punctuate UNI's 13-play, 73 yard march that ate nearly seven minutes of the opening quarter.
Araf Evans doubled UNI's lead just two minutes later when he ripped the ball from Travis Hardgraves' hands and sprinted 35 yards to paydirt. Nate Rausa's kick gave UNI a 14-0 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

Interceptions on consecutive plays- the first by UNI's Darrell Lloyd, the second by Drake's Andy Green- put the Bulldogs on their own two-yard-line to start the second quarter. The Panther defense stuffed Drake's attack to force a punt and give the UNI offense the ball near midfield. Sanders and Co. needed just six plays to find the endzone and extend the lead to 21-0. Williams capped UNI's 6-play, 63-yard scoring drive with a 21-yard touchdown dash; his second score of the season.
34

After an interception by De'Veon Harris gave UNI the ball on Drake's 11 yard-line-line, Sanders found Johnny Gray for an 11-yard touchdown strike to put the score at 28-0 with three minutes left in the first half.

Drake orchestrated a scoring drive of its own, crossing the goal line with just over two minutes remaining to cut the UNI lead to 21 points. The Panthers downed the ball to kill the rest of the clock and went into the locker room with a 28-7 lead.

Rausa made good on a 22-yard field goal, his first field goal of the season, after UNI spent nearly five minutes on an 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive.

Derrick Law took a handoff from the Drake one-yard-line for a touchdown, UNI's fifth of the day. The rush ended a 7-play 84-yard drive that gave the Panthers a 38-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Patrick Grace took over for Sanders in the fourth quarter and notched his first career rushing touchdown, an 8-yard touchdown run that put UNI up 45-7 in the fourth. The Panthers kneeled on their final few plays to kill the clock and end the game with a 45-7 victory.

UNI moves to 4-0 for the first time since 1999. Drake falls to 3-1 on the season.

The Panthers travel to Normal, Ill. to take on the Illinois State Redbirds next Saturday. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m.




spacer.gif
 

CrossCyed

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2006
10,875
2,342
113
I could honestly care less, which is what their fans do if the Panther athletic teams have a bad season. Bandwagoners.
 

Drive4cy

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2006
5,541
168
63
972
Yeah, UNI can pretty much screw off. They have a nice team this year and knocked us off. It won't happen again for a long time.
 

Clone9

Well-Known Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,266
1,177
113
Boston, MA
Let them enjoy their state championship....they earned it. I wish we would have gotten it, even if we say it's not a big deal.
 

cytheguy

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2006
1,528
206
63
Good for them, but let's be honest. In this state, the only game that determines the champion in football is the ISU/Iowa game. Hate to say it, but UNI is a nice story, but them beating ISU or Iowa is a fluke. It may happen once in a great while.
 

tester

Member
Apr 11, 2007
31
0
6
UNI has won 3 of its last 8 games against ISU, all in Ames. And had other extremely close games. Doesn't sound like a fluke to me. They would give Iowa serious trouble this year if they had the shot.
 

Rogue52

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Oct 20, 2006
8,970
3,607
113
Cedar Rapids, IA
I could honestly care less, which is what their fans do if the Panther athletic teams have a bad season. Bandwagoners.

Actually, outside of games that occur at decent tailgate spots (Ames, Iowa City, etc.), the majority of fans are most non-existent.

They let the students in for free, and they still don't really show up. I guess that's how life is when you play inside a dome better suited for high school playoff football.