STORM LAKE - Buena Vista chalked up 228 yards rushing and built an early 16-0 lead on Saturday against Nebraska Wesleyan but the Prairie Wolves responded in the second half through the air and handed the Beavers a 37-16 setback on Homecoming inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.

The ground game was working well for BVU out of the gate as Bryland Menicucci found the endzone from two yards out before Adrian Griffin went for a 52-yard burst which gave the team a two touchdown lead.

NWU cut into that lead just before the half when quarterback Jonathan Curti completed a 15-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left.

BVU had the ball three times in the third quarter looking to add to the lead but was instead forced to punt twice and used up over seven minutes only to turn it over on downs at the NWU nine yard-line.

"We wanted to be able to feed off of each other in terms of offensively and defensively today, and I don't think we did that in the second half," said BVU head coach Grant Mollring.  "We have to score touchdowns in the red zone and failed to convert which came back to haunt us. If we can punch in one of those scores then the game becomes played much differently in terms of scheme." 

The Prairie Wolves got within 16-14 after a touchdown pass five minutes into the second half from 32 yards out.  That was the only scoring until they struck for 23 points in the final frame, including two scores through the air.

NWU finished the contest with 441 yards passing compared to only 127 for the Beavers.

"This defense is built to stop the run and pressure the QB," Mollring added.  "We did a decent job at those things but had too many breakdowns in coverage that proved costly against a playmaking QB. Curti picked us apart and we were running on fumes in the secondary." 

Eric Pacheco hauled in three catches for BVU and finished with 83 yards.  Morris Aranda totaled a team-leading eight tackles and had one pass break-up.  Michael Herwig had six stops including 1.5 for a loss.

Buena Vista suffers its first loss of the season and is 2-1 overall (0-1 A-R-C).  The team goes back on the road next week and plays at Simpson College.  Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.