Western stumbles again in final road trip
Bill Welt
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: Sports
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Redshirt freshman quarterback Wil Lunt picked up only 60 yards through the air Saturday night. He finished the contest going 9-for-20 with three interceptions and was sacked three times.
Backup redshirt freshman quarterback Cody Reardon made his first appearance for the 'Necks midway through the third quarter but did not fare any better than Lunt. He was also sacked three times and did not complete any passes in two attempts.
"Wil is a very tough kid," said head coach Mark Hendrickson. "He jumped up every time in the night that he got hit and he was able to continue to play. We did give Cody some reps that had not been in a game yet. We thought that he deserved it and so he took a few reps tonight (Saturday) to gain some experience."
Northern Iowa's senior quarterback Pat Grace got the Panthers' offense rolling on their first drive of the game when Grace hit junior tight end Ryan Mahaffey for a seven-yard touchdown pass to cap a 73-yard drive.
The Leathernecks relied on senior running back Dre Gibbs on Western's ensuing drive. Gibbs rushed for 41 yards on six carries to end the first quarter.
The 'Necks drove to the Panthers' 33-yard line but a failed pass attempt by Lunt to junior wide receiver Lito Senatus on fourth down ended the drive.
Northern Iowa expanded the lead 14-0 in the second quarter when sophomore wide receiver Jarred Herring broke away from Western defenders on a short completion and took the ball the distance 56-yards on third-and-short.
The 'Necks entered into halftime trailing 17-0 with just 81 total yards on offense. 53 of those yards were picked up by Gibbs alone.
The Panthers pushed out to a 20-0 lead in the third quarter with junior kicker Billy Hallgren's second completed field goal.
Grace sealed Western's fate early in the fourth quarter when he found senior wide receiver D.P. Eyman for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Grace finished the contest completing 9-of-17 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns.
"UNI is a very good team and we are not where we want to be right now on offense and that showed tonight," Hendrickson said. "They did what they showed on tape, which means they outplayed us up front. We were successful running the ball early, but not consistently."
Gibbs finished the game rushing for 89 yards on 19 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
Western will head into their final contest this Saturday, Nov. 21 against South Dakota State at Hanson Field.
"Our team knows there is only one way to approach this final week and it is to do it as we did the last 10 weeks," Hendrickson said. "We will work hard all week and do all we can to win this ball game."
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