STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 14, 2025) - The Buena Vista football team goes on the road for its final game of the year on Saturday and takes on No.6-ranked Wartburg College (9-0, 7-0 A-R-C) in a 1 p.m. kickoff inside of Walston-Hoover Stadium in Waverly.

INSIDE THE SERIES:
Wartburg has won 12 of the last 13 games played against Buena Vista…BVU's victory during that span came in 2021 (24-20 at Storm Lake) which also marks the last time the Knights have dropped a conference game…Wartburg won last year's meeting in Storm Lake, 73-13, and was victorious in the last match-up played in Waverly in 2023 by a 47-0 margin.

LAST TIME OUT:
Buena Vista: The Beavers closed out their home schedule last Saturday in a snow game but was able to walk away with a strong 34-21 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan. Junior tailback Adriel Fussell had himself a career day with 259 yards rushing on 32 carries and scored three touchdowns. Junior Quarterback Zy Gravitt was efficient through the air by completing 11-of-17 attempts for 103 yards and one score. Defensively, the Beavers were all over the field, led by Wyatt Hatcher's team-high eight tackles, including three for a loss. Defensive back Tre Fisher had one of the biggest plays of the game with a 60-yard pick six that gave BVU a 14-0 halftime lead. The win by the Beavers snapped the their three-game losing streak.

Wartburg: The Knights are coming off a bye week which came after they picked up a 34-10 road victory over Nebraska Wesleyan. It was a tight battle early on with Wartburg clinging to a 7-3 halftime lead before the Knights came out and scored a pair of touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters to break open a 34-3 cushion. The team, despite holding the ball for nearly 10 minutes less than the Prairie Wolves, finished the game with 120 yards rushing and three touchdowns to go along with 181 through the air and one score. 

BY THE NUMBERS

Scoring Offense:
BVU: 17.0ppg
WAR: 28.0ppg

Scoring Defense:
BVU: 30.4ppg
WAR: 8.9ppg

Rushing Offense:
BVU: 149.7ypg
WAR: 181.2ypg

Passing Offense:
BVU: 176.3ypg
WAR: 188.9ypg

Total Offense:
BVU: 326.0ypg
WAR: 370.1ypg

Penalty Yardage:
BVU: 54.7ypg
WAR: 42.9ypg

Time of Possession:
BVU: 32:37
WAR: 32:41

3rd down conversions:
BVU: 48-132 (36.36%)
WAR: 55-118 (46.61%)

4th down conversions:
BVU: 7-19 (36.84%)
WAR: 10-15 (66.67%)

ABOUT BUENA VISTA: The Beavers (3-6, 2-5 A-R-C) look to close out the season with back-to-back victories and get to four overall wins for the first time since 2022. The team continues to be a productive rushing team and ranks fourth in the conference at nearly 150.0ypg overall. It will face a tough test on Saturday by going against the nation's second-ranked defense against the run which allows only 25.0ypg on the ground. BVU has a pair of running backs who have rushed for over 600 yards on the season. Junior Adriel Fussell moved into the team lead at 660 yards with senior Meven Obregon close behind at 648. The duo currently sits fourth and fifth, respectively, during A-R-C play by averaging 82.0ypg and 81.9ypg and have combined for six rushing scores. BVU looks to find a rhythm in the passing game against the Knights. For the year, junior Zy Gravitt has tossed for 1,059 yards and 10 touchdowns with the Beavers ranked seventh overall in the league in passing offense. Defensively, the Beavers will need to slow down the Wartburg run game. Aside from allowing a season-high in rushing yards against Central two weeks ago, the Beavers have held four of the last five opponents to under 155 yards rushing. BVU continues to be strong in defending the pass and remains ranked in the top-50 teams in DIII by allowing only 170.0ypg. The game will be the final career contest for 16 graduating seniors.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Wartburg is aiming to match Central College's conference record with four straight outright regular season championships with a win on Saturday. The Knights, which are one of six DIII teams still unbeaten this season, take the field having won 32 straight conference games since it's last loss which was a 24-20 setback in Storm Lake against Buena Vista back in 2021. It's been the defense which has led the way all season long. The Knights rank second in DIII in stopping the run by allowing only 30.8ypg overall and only 10.1ypg during conference play. Teams have been forced to go to the air a bit more and are averaging around 230.0ypg. Offensively, it's been a balanced attack, for a team that controls the ball nearly 33 minutes per game. It passes for nearly 190.0ypg and rushes for just over 181.0ypg. Senior running back Joey Anderson is sixth in the league during conference play in rushing at 81.1ypg. Senior quarterback Leo Dodd has thrown a touchdown pass in all but two games he's appeared in this season and has nine overall. He's thrown for 1,279 yards and completing over 60 percent of his attempts. Defensively, senior linebacker Keenan Tyler leads the way with a team-high 96 total tackles and six TFL's. Fellow senior linebacker Mac Watts is second in tackles at 69.0 and has 4.5 TFL's. As a unit, the Knights have broken up 33 passes on the year and have intercepted 14 passes. 

LOOKING AHEAD: This game marks the season finale for Buena Vista.