Amauri Pesek-Hickson recovered a fumble from his backfield mate and carried it 10 yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as Northern Iowa defeated St. Thomas-Minnesota 17-10 on Saturday afternoon.

The Tommies lost their second home game in a row at the start of the season.

Northern Iowa’s only lead of the game came on the final touchdown that capped a seven-play, 90-yard drive. Tye Edwards opened the drive with a 56-yard run that gave the Panthers a first down at the Tommies’ 34. St. Thomas appeared to stop UNI on fourth down at the 25, but was penalized for an illegal substitution on fourth down. On second-and-5 at the 15, Edwards ran five yards before losing the ball, and Pesek-Hickson recovered it and ran the final ten yards unchallenged.

Patrick Wagner caught a 13-yard pass from Michael Rostberg to give St. Thomas a 7-0 lead after one quarter.

Pesek-Hickson hit a three-pointer early in the second quarter to tie the game. Stephen Shagen missed two short field goal attempts before hitting a 50-yarder late in the third quarter to give the Tommies a 10-7 lead. Caden Palmer scored from 19 yards out to tie the Panthers at 10-10.

Edwards finished the game with 141 rushing yards on 15 carries to lead Northern Iowa (2-0). Pesek-Hickson ran 13 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers rushed for 233 total yards.

Rostberg completed 15 of 23 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown to lead St. Thomas-Minnesota. Wagner caught eight balls for 104 yards. Hope Adebayo rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries.

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