STORM LAKE, Iowa (Oct. 22, 2026) - The Buena Vista football team (1-5, 0-3 A-R-C) remains in search of its first American Rivers Conference win as it travels to Central College (3-3, 1-2 A-R-C) on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff inside of Ron & Joyce Schipper Stadium is at 1 p.m.

BVU hosted Coe College last Saturday as part of Family Weekend on campus but the Kohawks pulled away in the second quarter en route to a 42-9 victory. It was just 14-3 heading to the second before the Storm added a pair of touchdowns to lead 28-3 at the half. Both teams went scoreless in the third before Coe outscored the Beavers 14-6 over the final 15 minutes.

The Dutch went on the road to Nebraska Wesleyan last week and notched their first American Rivers Conference victory of the year with a strong 44-11 victory over the Prairie Wolves. Central used a dominant running game to the account of 298 yards and four touchdowns to earn the win. It finished with over 430 total yards of offense despite running five fewer plays than NWU.

A LOOK INSIDE THE MATCH-UP

• Saturday marks the 79th meeting all-time between the two programs. Central leads the all-time series 65-13.
• The Dutch have won five straight games in the series and have scored at least 50 points in four of those contests. Central won 24 straight games from 1980-2016
• Buena Vista's last win in the series came in 2017 in Storm Lake with a dramatic 39-38 overtime victory.
• The last time BVU went on the road and knocked off the Dutch was in 2003 when the two teams played at Southeast Polk High School in Altoona, Iowa. The  Beavers held on to win that game, 16-14. It's last victory in Pella, Iowa, came back in 1979 (W, 23-21).

BROADCAST INFO

LIVE STATS: https://athletics.central.edu/sidearmstats/football/summary
LIVE VIDEO: https://www.centraldutchnetwork.com/centraldutchsports/
LISTEN (Chris Boeckman play-by-play): https://www.kbvu975.com/

LAST TIME OUT:

Buena Vista chalked up a season-high 241 yards passing against the visiting Kohawks but couldn't slow down the Coe rushing attack which ran for 330 yards. Freshman Aaron Christian made a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter to make it a 7-3 game but BVU didn't score again until the fourth quarter when junior wide receiver Johnny Messerly hauled in his seventh touchdown of the year in double coverage to make it 42-9. Junior quarterback Brett Garcia had a career day by completing a career-high 27 passes on 37 attempts for the 241 yards and one touchdown.  BVU held the ball more than 15 minutes longer than the Kohawks but  was forced to turn the ball over on downs three times.

The Dutch got a pair of early touchdown runs against the Prairie Wolves to set the tone as it led 17-0  after one quarter.  They added another touchdown in the  second quarter and led 28-3 at the half and 30-11 going to the fourth. Cody Klein rushed for 148 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 16 carries. Jase Grunder added 95 yards and one touchdown while Gentry Dumont punched in the final rushing score and finished with 71 yards. Through the air, Central completed only 10 passes with Klein and Elam Parises each accounting for four, including one touchdown apiece. The Dutch were forced to punt only one time  and it  went for 27 yards.

SCOUTING THE  DUTCH: The team relies heavily on its ground game as it has rushed for over 100 yards in five of the six games this season. Three of those contests have seen the Dutch go for over 200. The season-high in pass attempts in a single game is 25, and that came back in the season opener against Gustavus Adolphus. The team ranks second in the A-R-C in rushing yards per game overall this season at 207.3 and are tied for second in rushing touchdowns with 15. Grunder and Klein both rank inside the top-7 of the league in rushing yards per game, and the Dutch are one of only two teams to have multiple rushers to  rank that high (Wartburg; 2).

Through the air, the Dutch average less than 147.0 yards passing per game and have tossed for only five touchdowns this season. Sophomore Brett Connelly has attempted a team-high 61 passes and has completed 39 for 517 yards and three scores. Dumont is 16-for-31 for 193 yards and recorded the remaining two touchdown passes. Only six different receivers have caught multiple passes on the year with Parises leading the way with 16 for 251 yards and two TD's. Gruner has 15 receptions for 89 yards and Klein 14 catches for 195 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Central has been able to rely on special teams when called upon through the first six games. Junior Lee Broderick is averaging 43.0 yards per punt attempt, including a long of 72 yards. He has six of his 22 attempts go for at least 50 yards and has landed two inside of the 20-yard line. Junior placekicker Andrew Mohan has made 5-of-6 field goal attempts with his only miss coming from over 40 yards. He's also made 18-of-19 PAT's on the year.

Defensively, the Dutch are holding opponents to 345.0 yards of total offense. They're allowing 135.0 yards rushing per game but only eight of the 19 offensive touchdowns allowed have come on the ground. Freshman linebacker Brecken Ritzert leads the way with 35 total tackles, two interceptions and one pass breakup. Senior Peyton Ritezert is right behind his brother with 34 tackles and one interception. The unit has 37 tackles for a loss overall and 16 sacks. Six different players have at least 3.0 sacks.

ABOUT BUENA VISTA: BVU is looking to snap its four-game conference losing streak dating back to last season. It's last A-R-C victory was a 34-21 triumph over  Nebraska Wesleyan on Nov. 8 of last season in Storm Lake. Since that win, the Beavers have allowed over 40 points to each of its last four league opponents. 

BVU, which has been more of a force on the ground over the last couple seasons, have taken strides in its passing game here in 2026. It passed for a season-high 241 yards and one touchdown against Coe last week. Garcia is completing better than 63 percent of his attempts on the year for 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns while being intercepted only four times. Messerly has led the team and is among the top receivers in the A-R-C with 25 catches and seven touchdowns. He ranks second in the league in yards (515), sixth in receptions (25) and third in both touchdowns (7) and yards per game (85.8). He's leading the league in yards per catch at 20.6. Sebastian Dennis is right behind Messerly with 23 receptions for 173 yards. Senior Gavin Honkomp has hauled in the team's only other touchdown grab. 

On the ground, it's been a shared attack by senior Adriel Fussell and sophomore Trayton Cink. Fussell has 353 yards on 83 carries with Cink sitting at 261 yards on 65 attempts. Both players are averaging nearly 4.0 yards per carry and have combined for five of the team's seven rushing scores. Garcia has the final two rushing TD's.

The Beavers continue to be plagued by its inability to slow down the opponent's run game. The team has allowed at least 260 yards on the ground in each of its first three A-R-C games this season  which has led to 13 rushing touchdowns over that span. Opponents are averaging only 23 pass attempts per game with BVU holding them to 195.2 yards per game which ranks second in the conference. Senior Drew Volkmann has been among the leaders of the unit with 52 total tackles. He has three games this  season with at least 10 stops. Junior Bobby Gross is next with 33 tackles while senior Brody Boeckman is third with 31. The team has yet to intercept a pass this season.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Beavers will host the University of Dubuque (4-2, 3-0 A-R-C) next Saturday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. The team will then have its final two games of the year at Loras College (Nov. 7) and at home against Nebraska Wesleyan (Nov.14).