WAVERLY, Iowa (Nov. 15, 2025) - The Buena Vista football team couldn't slow down the ground attack of No. 6 Wartburg College on Saturday afternoon as the Beavers concluded the season with a tough 63-20 loss to the Knights.
Wartburg (10-0, 8-0 A-R-C) did nearly all of its damage on the ground by chalking up 451 yards rushing and five touchdowns while averaging right at 11.0 yards per carry. The Knights found the end zone less than three minutes into the game on a 24-yard touchdown burst by Dawson Rud, and with four minutes to go in the opening quarter, extended the cushion to 21-0 on a 27-yard touchdown run.
Buena Vista got on the board on the first play of the second quarter when junior quarterback
Zy Gravitt connected with
Cashtin Craycraft on a 20-yard touchdown strike that made it 21-7. The Knights, however, came right back and tacked on three more first-half touchdowns to lead 42-7 at the break and never looked back.
The Beavers went on to get a 10-yard touchdown run by senior
Meven Obregon and a 35-yard burst from junior
Adriel Fussell, as the team finished the day with 155 yards on the ground. Wartburg came into the game allowing an average of only 10.1 yards per game rushing by conference opponents this season. Fussell, who chalked up 259 yards on the ground last week, responded with 131 more on 20 carries, to close out the year with 791 yards and five touchdowns.
Gravitt, meanwhile, completed 20-of-28 pass attempts for 174 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore
Johnny Messerly hauled in four catches for a team-high 48 yards with
Aedan Hayes right behind with three grabs and 42 yards. Craycraft matched Messerly with four grabs that totaled 34 yards and the one score while senior
Dolan Pospichal closed out his career with a team-leading five catches and 27 yards.
It was a balanced rushing attack for Wartburg as seven different players rushed for at least 30 yards on the day led by Rud with 88 yards on just six carries. The Knights totaled 603 yards of offense on the day with BVU gaining 345.
Wyatt Hatcher led the way defensively with seven total tackles with
Alex Abens next at five. Junior
Drew Volkmann intercepted his fourth pass of the year and also added one pass breakup.
Buena Vista concludes its season at 3-7 overall (2-6 A-R-C).
