PELLA, Iowa - Sophomore Matthew Beisswenger returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns for Buena Vista, but the Beavers couldn't quite overcome an early 21-0 deficit, as Central College scored the final 21 points of the game in the fourth quarter to hold on for a 56-22 victory.
Hunter Hoffman threw three first quarter touchdown passes for the Dutch to put them in front 21-0. Beisswenger got BVU on the board less than two minutes into the second quarter when he stepped in front of a short route in the flat to intercept a Hoffman pass and went untouched 40 yards down the visitor sideline for the touchdown. The PAT was missed and it remained 21-6.
Hoffman added two more touchdown passes in the quarter, including the final one with 12 seconds left after Beisswenger missed wide left on a 44-yard field goal attempt with just over one minute remaining giving the Dutch one final drive.
Trailing 35-6 at the break, the Beavers chipped away at that deficit with a 36-yard field goal by Ben Crock with 5:01 left in the third quarter before Beisswenger registered his second pick-six of the contest, this one for 90 yards, that made it 35-16 with 12:36 left in regulation. The defense continued to remain strong as it forced a turnover on downs on Central's ensuing possession after Anthony Domingue forced a sack-fumble on a 4th-and-4 play inside of BVU territory. The ball was recovered by Dylan Berens at the Beaver 44-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Zach Herrera connected with Eman Alaniz on a 53-yard touchdown strike to pull BVU within 35-22 after the two-point conversion attempt failed.
After being shutout for the first 23 minutes of the second half, the Dutch would get on track over the final six minutes by scoring touchdowns on their final three drives of the game to pull away. The Beavers were intercepted deep in their own territory just two plays after Central scored their first points of the second half and the Dutch capitalized with a touchdown just three plays later.
Despite holding the ball for seven minutes longer than the Dutch in the contest, the Beavers were still outgained 525-277 in the contest. The 22 points scored were the second-most allowed by Central all season. Herrera completed 15 of 34 pass attempts for 234 yards and the touchdown but was intercepted three times, including twice in the first half while driving into Central territory.
Alaniz gave the Beavers 47 yards on the ground to go along with 100 receiving yards. He finished with six catches on the day while Isaia Morones caught four passes for 68 yards.
Despite also being intercepted three times, Hoffman still managed to throw touchdown passes to five different receivers to help lead Central (7-2, 5-2 A-R-C). He finished 21-of-32 for 258 yards. Brady Ketchum came on late and completed 6-of-7 attempts for 71 yards and two scores.
Trey Ortman turned in a career-high 17 total tackles to help lead BVU on the defensive side while Troy Reynolds added a career-best 14 total stops. Domingue finished with five tackles, including two sacks and the forced fumble.
Buena Vista is now 1-8 overall (1-6 A-R-C) and will wrap up its season on Nov. 11 by hosting Neb. Wesleyan at 1 p.m.
