Amauri Pesek-Hickson scooped up a fumble by his backfield mate and carried it 10 yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as Northern Iowa knocked off St. Thomas-Minnesota 17-10 on Saturday afternoon.
The Tommies dropped their second straight home game to start the season.
Northern Iowa’s only lead of the game came on the final touchdown, culminating a seven-play, 90-yard drive. Tye Edwards opened the drive with a 56-yard dash to give the Panthers a first down at the Tommies’ 34. St. Thomas appeared to stop UNI on fourth down at the 25 but was flagged for an illegal substitution penalty on fourth down. On second-and-5 at the 15, Edwards ran for five yards before fumbling and Pesek-Hickson recovered and raced untouched the final 10.
Patrick Wagner caught a 13-yard pass from Michael Rostberg to give St. Thomas a 7-0 lead after one quarter.
Pesek-Hickson scored from the 3 early in the second to tie the game. Stephen Shagen missed a pair of short field-goal attempts before hitting a 50-yarder late in the third quarter to put the Tommies in front, 10-7. Caden Palmer connected from 19 yards out to pull the Panthers even at 10-10.
Edwards finished with 141 yards rushing on 15 carries to lead Northern Iowa (2-0). Pesek-Hickson carried 13 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers ran for 233 total yards.
Rostberg completed 15 of 23 pass attempts for 104 yards and a touchdown to lead St. Thomas-Minnesota. Wagner had eight catches for 104 yards. Hope Adebayo had 113 yards on 20 carries.
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