STORM LAKE, Iowa (Nov. 7, 2025) - The Buena Vista football team (2-5, 1-5 A-R-C) will take the field inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium for the final time this season on Saturday afternoon as it hosts Nebraska Wesleyan (1-7, 1-5 A-R-C) in an American Rivers Conference game.

INSIDE THE SERIES:
Saturday is the 13th all-time meeting between the two teams. The team's first took the field against each other in 1952 with NWU winning 27-19 and played four straight years, including a 20-20 tie in 1953. The 1955 game was the last time the two sides met up until NWU joined the American Rivers Conference, and now the two have played eight straight times. The Prairie Wolves lead the all-time series, 6-5-1, but the Beavers have won three of the last four match-ups. Nebraska Wesleyan was victorious over BVU last season in a game played at Lincoln, Neb., where the Prairie Wolves outscored BVU 20-0 in the fourth quarter.

LAST TIME OUT:
Buena Vista: The Beavers were on the road last week at No. 18 Central College and dropped the third straight game with a 52-27 loss. The Dutch held a slim 14-7 lead after the first quarter but they would increase the margin to 31-14 at the half and never looked back. BVU struggled to slow down the Central running game which chalked up 375 yards on the ground and finished with 518 yards of offense overall. Sophomore Johnny Messerly hauled in a pair of touchdown catches to help lead the Beavers and tallied four receptions for 39 yards overall. Wyatt Fahey hauled in a touchdown grab for the second straight week while Adriel Fussell added one rushing score.

Neb. Wesleyan: The Prairie Wolves hosted No. 7 Wartburg College last Saturday and would battle throughout but the Knights came away with the 34-10 victory. NWU trailed only 7-3 at the half but Wartburg scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to pull away. The Prairie Wolves registered 255 yards of total offense in the game while holding the Knights to 301. NWU outgained Wartburg through the air with 186 as quarterback Connor White completed 28-of-33 attempts for one touchdown and one interception. Trystin Davis added 73 yards rushing.

ABOUT BUENA VISTA: The Beavers return home this week looking to snap their current three-game losing streak. The team's lone conference victory this season came at home against Luther College (31-7) back on Oct. 11. BVU has been a consistent team on the ground all season long, going over 100 yards rushing in all but two games. In one of those two, it finished with 99. Senior Meven Obregon has helped carried the load for the majority of the year, averaging nearly 6.0 yards per rush while being handed the ball 103 times on the year. During A-R-C play, Obregon ranks fourth among all league ball carriers at 86.5 yards per game. BVU is looking to get more consistent through the air, averaging just more than 185 yards passing and completing 56 percent of the attempts. Junior quarterback Zy Gravitt is closing in on 1,000 yards passing for the year and has thrown for nine touchdowns. Among the top targets has been sophomore Johnny Messerly who has 31 receptions for 608 yards and six touchdowns. His four TD grabs during conference play is tied for the fourth-highest total. As a team during conference play this season, the Beavers rank fourth in rushing yards per game (146.3) and seventh in passing yards per game (188.3). On the defensive side, BVU has struggled to slow down the opponents' ground game. The team is allowing 200.3 yards rushing per game. It's second in defending the pass by allowing only 200.2 yards. It has allowed only three teams to go for more than 200 yards in any game this season. Four players have over 40.0 tackles on the year, led by Wyatt Hatcher's 48. Drew Volkmann has 43 while Brody Boeckman and Ethan Wiersma are right behind at 40. Volkmann has a team-leading three interceptions on the year.

SCOUTING THE PRAIRIE WOLVES: The team has dropped four straight games since defeating Luther College, 44-7, back on Sept. 27. Since then, the Prairie Wolves have been held to under 15 points in three of those four games, but have faced Central and Wartburg in each of the last two weeks, respectively. Offensively, NWU has been the strongest in the passing game with quarterback Connor White having tossed for 1,310 yards and eight touchdowns and completing over 63 percent of his attempts. His favorite target has been receiver, Joey McLaughlin, who sits atop the A-R-C in yards per game during conference play at 115.5. Overall this season, he has hauled in 57 catches for 753 yards and eight scores. The team's running game sits right in the middle of the league standings at 139.8ypg. It is among the top teams in slowing down the run, ranking second by allowing only 102.0 yards per contest. Hunter Hanke leads the way with his 58 total tackles, 11.0 TFL's and 6.5 sacks. Jian Aguilar is right behind with 53 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss, and also has one of the team's four interceptions.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Beavers will close out the season on Nov. 15 at No. 6 Wartburg College at 1 p.m.