STORM LAKE, Iowa – Saturday's meeting between the Simpson and Buena Vista football teams added another chapter to what has become an exciting rivalry between the two programs.
Unfortunately for Simpson, the most recent chapter ended in favor of the home team.
Bobby Brown threw for 392 yards and five touchdowns, Derek Schwartz intercepted a Dylan Berkey pass at the 7-yard line with 35 seconds left, and Buena Vista held on to beat Simpson 38-31 on Saturday.
Simpson trailed 38-21 after three quarters but got a field goal from Logan Klein and a touchdown catch by Corbin Clark to pull within a touchdown with 7:58 left. After a Buena Vista fumble, Berkey drove Simpson 53 yards to the 11 before Schwartz sealed the win with the pick.
"It was an exciting football game, but ultimately, they made a few more plays than we did," head coach Jim Glogowski said.
Berkey threw for 304 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Clark caught five passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns for the Storm (3-1, 0-1 Iowa Conference), who lost their fifth straight road game in the series.
Clark's second touchdown catch was an 83-yarder in the second quarter that gave Simpson a 21-7 lead, Simpson's last score until the fourth.
Brown threw three touchdown passes before halftime and added another in the third quarter as Buena Vista scored 31 unanswered points to build a 38-21 lead.
"We just didn't play well enough," Glogowski said. "They got in behind us a few times and [Brown] got hot. We didn't do a good job of slowing him down in the middle part of the game."
Brown completed 25 of 43 passes, hooking up with Gunner Gilland 15 times for 236 yards and three touchdowns for the Beavers (2-2, 1-0).
Game OverviewUp Next … Simpson goes to Dubuque next Saturday, Oct. 11 in a 4 p.m. kickoff. The Spartans (1-3, 0-1) lost to Luther 28-14 on Saturday. It was over when … Derek Schwartz intercepted Dylan Berkey on 1st and 10 from the Buena Vista 11 with 30 seconds left and the Beavers leading 38-31. Simpson's game ball goes to … Corbin Clark came into the game with eight catches for 85 yards and one TD on the season but a huge day against Buena Vista, averaging 24.8 yards on five receptions with three TDs. Stat of the game … 0. Simpson failed to record a sack against the Beavers, the first time all season Simpson hasn't been able to get to the quarterback. |
The game started well for the Storm, who were off to their first 3-0 start since 2003. Jake Schrodt's first quarter interception led to a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Berkey, who then tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Clark to make it 14-0 with 11:16 remaining in the second.
Buena Vista cut it 14-7 when Brown threw his first touchdown pass to Gilland, but Simpson answered with Berkey's 83-yard bomb to Clark, making it 21-7 with 5:18 left in the first half.
The momentum swung in favor of Buena Vista on the next two possessions.
Brown threw his second touchdown pass to Gilland with 1:52 left in the first, then Buena Vista recovered a pooch-kick at the Simpson 26. Two plays later, Gilland was in the end zone again via a 26-yard hookup with Brown to tie the game at 21 apiece.
The next Simpson drive was over before it started as Berkey went deep down the middle to Walker Holland and was intercepted by Ryan Anderson. Brown took advantage of the short field, throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 2 to give Buena Vista a 28-21 lead at halftime.
Buena Vista built its lead to 38-21 after the third on a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Stolen and a 47-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Adam Cave.
"I'm proud of our kids and our effort," Glogowski said. "We had a lot of things go against us, but we were able to stick around."
Klein connected on a 34-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter and Berkey capped off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown toss to Clark, making the score 38-31.
It looked like the game would end two drives later when Anderson intercepted Berkey for the second time and Buena Vista took over with less than 5 minutes left. But Patrick Steffen recovered a fumble by backup running back Cody Mowery with 2:11 left to set up Simpson's final drive.
Berkey went 4-for-6 on the drive before Schwartz stepped in front of a slant route deep in Buena Vista territory.
The last three games of the series between Simpson and Buena Vista have come down to the final possession.
Buena Vista knocked off Simpson 34-32 in Indianola in 2013 when Brown ran in for the winning score from 4 yards out as time expired. In 2012, Brian Schaaf just missed a 35-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in a 29-27 Buena Vista win in Storm Lake.