STORM LAKE - The Buena Vista football team scored 26 second-quarter points, including three in the final 1:05 of the half, and that surge helped propel the Beavers to a 40-27 halftime lead en route to a 60-40 victory over visiting Luther College on Saturday afternoon.

BVU had six rushing touchdowns in the contest, including a career-high four from sophomore Bryland Menicucci.  With the Beavers trailing, 21-20 Menicucci found some space and scampered 23 yards for a score, and the two-point conversion gave BVU a 28-21 advantage.  The Norse then took the ensuing kick-off 93 yards to the house, but after an illegal shift penalty on the PAT, Luther would miss the second attempt and the Beavers remained in front, 28-27, with 50 seconds left.  

Menicucci then came back with a 32-yard kick-off return on the ensuing kick-off before Isaiah Morones hauled in a 44-yard catch from Reyes Lara III down inside the 15.  Then on 3rd-and-13, Lara III connected with Eric Pacheco for the first of his three touchdown grabs on the day.  The Norse then fumbled the ensuing kick-off return that was recovered by Mason Latapie at the Luther 20.  On the first play, Lara III found a wide open Pacheco coming across the middle of the endzone, and after the PAT was blocked, BVU took a 13-point lead to the locker room.

After scoring 26 in the second quarter, BVU came out and put up 20 more in the third quarter to blow the game open.  Pacheco caught his third touchdown pass of the contest to make it 52-27 while Meicucci and Adrian Griffin added rushing scores of two and 16 yards, respectively.

Luther scored the only points of the fourth quarter on a two-yard run with 2:15 left in the contest.

The two teams combined for 1,060 yards of total offense with nearly 700 of those yards coming on the ground.  Lara III finished 17-of-31 for 200 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.  Pacheco caught nine passes on the day, as he climbed up to second on the program's all-time receptions list with 160.  He now trails only Jalen Henningsen (201).  His 68 grabs this season are third-most all-time and trail only TJ Lint (70) and Henningsen (83).  His 119 yards on the day pushed him past 1,000 for the year, making him the first player in program history to reach that plateau multiple times in a career.  He now sits only 84 yards shy of the single-season mark of 1,101 by Gunner Gilliand in 2014.

Menicucci chalked up 122 yards on just 12 carries, including a big 61-yard scamper early in the game which helped set the tone for the game.  Griffin had 67 yards on nine rushes, including a pair of scores.  Overall, the Beavers chalked up a season-high 304 yards.  Menicucci also had 154 kickoff return yards on only five returns, including one that went for 54 yards.

Luther, meanwhile, had 384 rushing yards, led by quarterback Parker Kizer's 197 on 25 attempts.  The team had multiple carries for over 65 yards in the contest.

Tanner Frost had a team-leading 13 tackles with Morris Aranda right behind with 11.  

"Great win today for the fellas," said BVU head coach Grant Mollring.  "I'm proud that they have continued to work hard and stay true to the process."

The win snapped an 18-game conference losing streak which dated back to 2017.  It was also the highest single-game point total since putting up 67 during a win over Waldorf back in 2004.

"Defensively we got enough stops in the second half to give us the ball back," Mollring added.  "We also created four turnovers which was much needed.  Special teams was not up to par for us, and that gave Luther some life in the first half. We have not struggled that much outside of our field goal unit all year. That will definitely give us some things to work on next week.  A ton of credit goes to our offensive line and Coach Savage for putting together a great game today. We won the line of scrimmage in the run game and did not allow a sack. Getting Bryland and Adrian loose today was fun for those guys."

Prior to the game, eight seniors were introduced to the crowd as they got set to take part in their final career contest inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.

"I appreciate the eight seniors that we recognized today," added Mollring.   "They have been through a lot and have continued to be good role models for our younger players. Glad they were able to walk out of J Leslie Rollins a winner for the final time." 

Buena Vista will now look to close out its 2019 campaign on an even higher note when it plays the season finale next Saturday at the University of Dubuque.  Kick-off is at 1 p.m.