WAVERLY, Iowa (Oct. 10, 2026) - The Buena Vista football team struck first on the road at No. 11 Wartburg College on Saturday afternoon, but the Knights proved too be too much for the Beavers to handle in the end as they went on to hand BVU a tough 72-14 loss.
BVU scored on the game's first drive when junior quarterback
Brett Garcia connected with fellow junior
Johnny Messerly on a 49-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play from scrimmage that put the team in front 7-0. Wartburg, however, struck right back by going 65 yards in only five plays, capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 7-7.
The Knights added a 20-yard touchdown run late in the quarter to go in front for the first time at 14-7 and never looked back from there. Wartburg, which out-gained BVU 752-187 in total yards for the game, shutout the Beavers 30-0 in the second quarter and led 44-7 at the half and 65-7 heading to the fourth. Both teams scored one touchdown in the fourth.
Wartburg did most of its damage on the ground with 501 yards rushing and five touchdowns as five players registered at least 60 yards. Dawson Rud led all players with 124 yards. The Beavers chalked up only 67 yards with sophomore
Trayton Cink responsible for 52 of those, including one score. Through the air, Garcia finished 14-of-31 for 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Messerly caught two passes for 55 yards and the touchdown.
Sebastian Dennis hauled in four receptions for only 22 yards.
Defensively, Drew Volmann turned in a team-high nine tackles with
Vinny Fine right behind with eight.
Buena Vista drops to 1-4 on the year (0-2 A-R-C) and is set to return home next Saturday, Oct. 17 to host Coe College (3-2, 2-0 A-R-C) on Family Weekend. Kickoff inside of J. Leslie Rollins Stadium is 1 p.m.
