Friday, September 2, 2005

Northern Iowa def. Drake, 52-17, Thursday

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - After being forced to punt on its first possession of the game, Northern Iowa scored on eight straight possessions to spoil Drake's season opener, 52-17, before a crowd of 10,385 fans at the UNI-Dome Thursday.

It marked the first meeting between the schools since Drake claimed a 24-9 victory in Des Moines in 1985.

The Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in two preseason NCAA I-AA Mid-Major polls.

Northern Iowa, a fully-funded scholarship program which was ranked No. 12 in the Sports Network preseason I-AA poll, earned its seventh straight victory going back to last year.

Drake scored on its first possession of the game to grab a 7-0 lead with 11:14 left in the first quarter following a four-yard touchdown pass from Connor Jostes to sophomore tight end Daniel Marx. The scoring strike capped a six-play, 65-yard drive.

Jostes kept the march alive with an impromptu play on third down at the Drake 36 yardline. Lining up in shotgun formation, center Matt Huber snapped the ball 10 yards over Jostes who still managed to retrieve the ball, scramble and then rifle a 34-yard pass to Shea Moroni down to the Panthers' 30-yard line.

An eight-yard run by Scott Phaydavong coupled with an 11-yard deadball penalty by Northern Iowa moved Drake to the Panthers' 11 yardline. Phaydavong added a seven-yard burst to set up Jostes' touchdown pass.

Phaydavong rushed for a game high 69 yards in 16 carries despite playing just the first half and Drake's opening drive of the third quarter.

The Panthers collected 359 yards total offense in the first half behind quarterback Eric Sanders who threw three touchdown passes.

Drake could only muster a field goal on its longest time consuming drive of the game. Ryan Horvath kicked a 26-yard field goal to pull the Bulldogs within 14-10 with 13:05 left in the first half.

Drake drove from its own 30 yardline to the Panthers' four yardline before Jostes fumbled for a six yard loss back to the 10 yardline on a second down play.

Jostes, who played just three quarters, completed 11 of 20 passes for 118 yards. Moroni and Marx led Drake with three receptions apiece.

Junior linebacker James Adams led Drake with seven tackles, while junior linebacker Nick Ross added 6.5 tackles.

Sophomore Mike Bialas rounded out Drake's scoring with a one-yard plunge with 1:06 remaining to cap a 12-play, 60-yard drive.