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Brett Taylor
Brett Taylor (#44) recorded a game-high and career-high 18 tackles.
30
Winner Northern Iowa UNI 5-5 , 4-3
23
Western Illinois WIU 6-4 , 3-4
Winner
Northern Iowa UNI
5-5 , 4-3
30
Final
23
Western Illinois WIU
6-4 , 3-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UNI Northern Iowa 7 6 7 10 30
WIU Western Illinois 0 3 6 14 23

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Lose Regular Season Home Finale to Panthers

Brett Taylor recorded a career-high 18 tackles


PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois staged another fourth quarter rally, but an onsides kick in the final minute was recovered by Northern Iowa as the Leathernecks dropped a 30-23 decision Saturday (Nov. 12) at Hanson Field. The loss drops the 17th-ranked Leathernecks to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
 
UNI (5-5, 4-3) took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards to take a 7-0 lead following Michael Malloy's 2-yard run. In the second quarter, UNI extended its lead following Eli Dunne's 9-yard TD pass to Logan Cunningham. Timothy Smith blocked the extra point attempt, keeping it 13-0.
 
Western got on the scoreboard with 39 seconds left in the half when Nathan Knuffman kicked a 29-yard field goal.
 
UNI took a 20-3 lead in the third quarter when Dunne hit Daurice Fountain on a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Leathernecks began their comeback.
 
Sean McGuire hit Isaiah Lesure on the first of his two touchdown receptions, a 2-yard pass with 3:49 left in the third. However, Knuffman's extra point was blocked.
 
Malloy added a 6-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter making it 27-9. McGuire marched the offense 80 yards in 1:22, capped by Lance Lenoir's 9-yard scoring catch. After a 21-yard field goal by Sam Drysdale made it 30-16, Western struck again.
 
The Leathernecks needed just 87 seconds to drive 66 yards. McGuire avoided a sack, rolled left and found Lesure on a 14-yard touchdown strike with 25 seconds remaining. After a late hit penalty on UNI after a hit on McGuire following the TD pass, the Leathernecks kicked off at the 50. Luke Otto tried another onside kick attempt, but the Panthers were able to cover again and run out the clock.
 
"I told the guys after the game how much I appreciate their effort. We are never going to ever, ever, ever under my leadership quit fighting. We never had that identity as a football team and they did that, we gave ourselves a chance by keep fighting," said head coach Charlie Fisher. "In the first half we put ourselves in a hole again. We didn't play well enough and we did not make quite enough plays. Tip of the hat to UNI, they have a very good team and a very good defensive football team. At the end of the day, we didn't quite make enough plays, but it certainly wasn't from the lack of effort or the lack of want-to from our players. They understand what is at stake. We had a good week at practice, and we were emotionally ready to play. But we just obviously didn't play well enough to win."
 
McGuire completed 25-of-42 passes for 237 yards and matched a career-high of three touchdown passes. He also led the team in rushing with a career-best 48 yards on 15 attempts.
 
Lesure caught a career-high six passes for 68 yards and set a personal-best with his two TD catches, giving him five this season.
 
Brett Taylor again paced the defense, turning in a career-best effort. The junior linebacker, who leads the nation with 8.0 solo tackles per game, set career-highs in solo tackles (15) and total tackles (18) while sharing on a tackle for loss.
 
Dunne threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns with an interception for UNI. Malloy rushed for 92 yards and scored twice. Duncan Ferch led the defense with 11 tackles.
 
Western now faces a must-win situation to help its postseason bid, and closes out the regular season at Southern Illinois next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
"You have to respond, you have to emotionally recharge because it's all on the line here. We don't have any time to feel sorry for ourselves," said Fisher. "You have to figure out what you did well and what we didn't do well enough then fix it. The good thing is we have got another opportunity. Until they do not give us an opportunity we can fix it, we can improve and have a chance to win a ball game. As I told the team we got to win and put it in the hands of everybody else, but we have the opportunity to decide what happens next Saturday at 2:04 p.m."
 
GAME NOTES: Western honored 13 players prior to kickoff playing in their final regular season home game… Redshirt-freshman Eric Carrera picked off a pass in the endzone in the fourth quarter, his first career interception… True-freshman defensive back Mike Viti and sophomore fullback Joe Turk made their first career start… Lenoir's TD reception was his program-record 27th. He extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 40 games while Joey Borsellino tied for second all-time with his 33rd straight game… Knuffman kicked his 35th career field goal… McGuire moved into seventh place among the season 'Top 10' total offense leaders. He also jumped into the season passing yardage leaders 'Top 10' in eighth place with 2,577 yards. McGuire's 202 rushing yards is now the third-most in a season by a QB, behind All-American Matt Barr's totals from 2007 and 2010… Redshirt-freshman tight end Jackson Riley caught a 28-yard catch in the fourth quarter, his first career reception… Junior tight end Tony Harper caught a career-high four passes.
 
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