Written by Kaden Howard, BVU Sports Information Student Intern

STORM LAKE, Iowa (September 25, 2021) - The Buena Vista University Beavers hosted Luther College inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium for the annual Community Day game on Saturday, and walked away with an impressive 32-14 win.

After a very competitive defensive first quarter, the Beavers were finally able to break the 0-0 tie by an 8-yard run by running back Keaton Huebner.  About seven minutes later, Luther struck back with a 24-yard run by Nate Swanson for a touchdown with just over four minutes left before halftime to make the score 7-7. However, just before time ran out in the second quarter, running back Emauel Alaniz capped off a very quick drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown of his own, and the Beavers would walk into the locker room with a 13-7 lead after a missed extra point.

The second half started with a very methodical and long drive for the Beavers that resulted in a Ramon Garcia 36-yard field goal to increase the BVU lead to 16-7. After an impressive defensive stop by the Beavers, they forced the Norse to punt to the ultra-shifty Eric Pacheco. Pacheco caught the ball at Luther's 15 yard line and proceeded to break over five tackles en route to the endzone. The fans at J. Leslie Rollins stadium erupted and the whole BVU sideline went crazy. With a perfect extra point by Ramon Garcia, the Beavers went up 23-7.

The third quarter came to an end with the Beavers inside Luther's red zone. Within the first few plays of the fourth quarter, Huebner recorded his second touchdown of the day and made the BVU lead even bigger. Luther would answer within 30 seconds with their own touchdown, this time from Avant Porter with a 2-yard rushing score to make it a 30-14. The Norse and Beavers would go back-and-forth punting until BVU punter Brandon Woodland landed a punt inside Luther's own 2-yard line. The BVU defense made a stand and ended up getting a safety to make the score 32-14.

For the Beavers, it was about equal contributions on offense by everyone on the team. In the running game, Huebner led the Beavers with 67 total rushing yards and he led the Beavers with two touchdowns. Quarterback Brandon Kyles contributed in the running game as well with 47 rushing yards. In the passing game, Kyles completed 11 out of 19 passes for 87 yards. Wide receivers Isaia Morones, Emanuel Alaniz, and Eric Pacheco all racked up three catches for 36 yards, 13 yards, and 13 yards respectively. The Beavers offense finished with 234 yards.

For the Beavers on defense, it was senior Brady McConaty that led the way with 17 total tackles, six of which were behind the line of scrimmage and he also had 2 sacks. Other contributions to the Beaver defense were Brandon Lance, Mason Wickett, and Reed Kruse - all contributed six tackles apiece. BVU held Luther's offense to 225 yards on over seventy plays. BVU was able to force an interception that proved to be monumental in the first half. Also, the Beavers defense was able to hold Luther on four different occasions on fourth down. Luther's quarterback Michael Lorento completed 16 passes out of 31 attempts for 152 yards. Luther's running game was led by Vershon Brooks, Nate Swanson, and Mentor Cooper who all contributed over 20 yards on the ground apiece.

The Beavers improve to 2-2 overall (1-1 A-R-C) and will be back in action at the University of Dubuque on October 2nd at 1 p.m.  Luther drops to 0-4 (0-2 A-R-C)/