STORM LAKE, Iowa (October 29, 2021) - The best defense in the American Rivers Conference goes up against one of the best offenses in the league when Wartburg College visits J. Leslie Rollins Stadium on Saturday to take on Buena Vista University in a 1:00 p.m. kick-off.

LAST WEEK: The Beavers kept on rolling following their bye week three weeks ago as they went on the road and picked up a 50-19 victory over Simpson College.  The team chalked up 514 yards of total offense and outgained the Storm 263-51 in rushing yards and built a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter.  Senior Eric Pacheco hauled in three touchdown passes and matched a career-high with 10 receptions overall.  He also tied the program's all-time career record for touchdown passes (33).  Jeremy Woodward took over late in the game at running back and rolled off a couple long runs to lead the team with 115 rushing yards on only nine carries.  Keaton Hueber added 74 yards on 18 attempts.  Quarterback Brandon Kyles completed 21-of-27 pass attempts for 242 yards and three touchdowns.  Brady McConaty and Tanner Frost turned in eight total tackles apiece with Brandon Lance intercepting his team-leading third pass of the year.

Inside the Series - Wartburg leads the all-time series 49-29-3 with the first-ever match-up taking place back in 1936 and won by BVU, 20-0.  The two teams have played each year since 1946 (except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).   The Knights have won 10 straight meetings entering Saturday's match-up with the last victory coming in Storm Lake back in 2019, 48-27.  BVU's last victory in the series was back in 2009 when the team came away with a 27-15 in Waverly, giving the team consecutive victories for the first time since 1986-88 when it took three in a row. Wartburg has scored at least 40 points six times during the current 10-game win streak over BVU.

Game Details
Who | Wartburg (5-2, 4-1 A-R-C) at Buena Vista (4-3, 3-2 A-R-C)
When | Saturday, October 30, 2021 | 1:00 p.m.
Where | Storm Lake, Iowa | J. Leslie Rollins Stadium
Live Video | https://team1sports.com/simpson/
Live Stats | https://simpsonathletics.com/sports/fball/2021-22/boxscores/20211023_wzbr.xml
Listen | 97.5FM KBVU

About Wartburg - The Knights are ranked first in the American Rivers Conference in scoring defense (16.3ppg) and total defense (254.9ypg).  The team is allowing just over 72 yards per game rushing which is also tops in the league.  Wartburg has won three straight games overall since suffering the only blemish on its conference thus far, a 49-24 road loss at now ninth-ranked Central College back on October 2.  Quarterback Jace Moore has passed for over 200 yards in four games this season but was held to a season-low 72 yards in last week's win over Dubuque.  Hunter Clasen has just one 100-yard rushing game this season and that came two weeks ago during the win over Luther when he chalked up 135.  The Knights have five players with at least 100 rushing yards on the year for a team that ranks fourth in the league at 186.8ypg.  Antonio Santillan and Eli Barrett have helped lead the defensive unit by chalking up 44 and 40 total tackles, respectively, and have combined for five tackles for a loss. Barrett also has a team-leading six pass breakups and one forced fumble.  Jordan Downing has a team-best 10.5 tackles for a loss and 7.5 sacks with 27 stops overall.

About Buena Vista: The Beavers rank third in the American Rivers Conference and 19th in Division III in scoring this season at 36.4ppg and are second in the league in rushing offense at 194.4ypg.  BVU is also ranked in the top-three in both total defense (293.2ypg) and rushing defense (91.4ypg).  Quarterback Brandon Kyles has helped lead the charge by completing over 66 percent of his pass attempts this season and is averaging 250 yards per contest.  Among his favorite targets is senior Eric Pacheco who has caught a team-leading 54 passes and is closing in on 900 yards for the year.   He again has his eyes set on the single-season program record of 1,101 yards which he tied in 2019.  His 10 touchdown grabs this season are currently tied for fourth and just five shy of the mark and he sits 30 receptions away from breaking the record of 83 receptions in a season, set by Jalen Henningsen in 2016.  Kyles is also second on the team in rushing with over 400 yards as running back Keaton Huebner leads the way with 494.  Defensively, BVU is among the top-20 in the country in interceptions with 12.  Brandon Lance leads the way with three.  Brady McConaty leads the way with 48 total tackles while he and Mason Wickett each have four sacks.  BVU needs one win over its last three games to secure itself at least a .500 record for the first time since 2013.

UP NEXT - The Beavers will play their final regular season road game next Saturday when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to face Coe College at 1:00 p.m.