STORM LAKE, Iowa (November 8, 2019) - Coming off its first American Rivers Conference victory of the season last week against Luther in the final home game of the year, the Buena Vista football team will go after back-to-back victories to wrap up the season on Saturday when it travels to the University of Dubuque for a 1 p.m. kick-off.

The Beavers chalked up 557 yards of total offense in last week's victory with a balanced attack of 304 yards rushing and 253 more through the air.  They will need another strong, balanced attack against the Spartans, who come into the game at 5-3 overall (4-2 A-R-C) and rank first in total defense during league play (290.5ypg).

Sophomore quarterback Reyes Lara III passed for 200 yards and three touchdowns against the Norse while fellow sophomore running back Bryland Menicucci carried the ball 12 times for a career-high 122 yards and four scores.  Junior wide receiver Eric Pacheco had another monster game with 119 yards and three TD's.  He takes the field Saturday needing 86 yards to become the program's all-time single-season leader and is 15 receptions away from that single-season mark.

Dubuque is coming off its bye week and is back on the field for the first time since picking up a 69-14 victory over Luther two weeks ago which extended its current win streak to four.  It began A-R-C play with back-to-back losses to Simpson and Wartburg, respectively.  Since then, the team has held opponents to 14 points or less in three of those victories.

Offensively, the team averages just over 160 yards per game on the ground this season against A-R-C foes to go along with 249 more through the air.  Quarterback Sean Duffy ranks fourth in the league in passing yards per game (249.3) and has thrown 13 TD passes.  His go-to-target has been Kody Reimer, who's hauling in 4.2 catches per game and is seventh in yards per contest at 80.0.  The offensive line has give Duffy all the protection he needs by only allowing five sacks in conference play.

Defensively, the Spartans have collected a league-high 14 interceptions through its first six conference games, including one returned for a score.  The unit has given nearly every passing offense in the league fits by allowing only 150 passing yards per game and just seven TD's.  It's been equally as effective defending the run by allowing only 132 yards per game.  Josh Ezekiel and Blaze Barista have each picked-off three passes with Barista also breaking up a league-high 12 attempts.

The Beavers have had success over the Spartans in recent years having won four of the last six meetings, including a thrilling 44-41 triumph the last visit to Dubuque in 2017.  The Spartans handed BVU a tough 38-7 defeat in Storm Lake last season, but has not picked up back-to-back wins over BVU since winning four in a row from 2009-2012.