SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS: Prior to kicking off American Rivers Conference play on the road last week, the Knights played host to a pair of top-5 ranked teams. The first of those was a tough 26-20 loss against No.1 ranked North Central (IL) on Sept. 12 before dropping a 31-14 contest against defending national champion, UW-River Falls a week later. The team ranks second in the A-R-C by averaging 34.8 points per game and is fourth in total offense at 337.3. Rud has done the heavy workload thus far in the ground attack with 370 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while carrying the ball 62 times. The next closest is Carson Bruns with 14 carries, 48 yards and one score.
Junior Josh Papesh is the main guy under center this season and is completing only 55 percent of his pass attempts. He has thrown for 623 yards and five touchdowns while being intercepted three times. After throwing for a season-high 265 yards and two touchdowns, he has been held to under 140 yards in each of the next three contests. The team has been able to throw the ball all over the field as six different receivers have caught at least five passes on the year and six different players have hauled in a touchdown reception. Dylan Swanstrom has a team-leading 14 grabs for 131 yards and one score, Taylen Curry has eight receptions for a team-high 146 yards and a touchdown while Titan Schmitt has scored a touchdown on three of his four catches.
Defensively, the Knights sit third in the A-R-C by allowing 350.0 yards of total offense. After allowing a season-high 239 rushing yards against UW-River Falls, the team came back and gave up only seven yards rushing last week against the Prairie Wolves. Six of the team's seven rushing touchdowns allowed for the year came against the two top-5 opponents. Senior linebacker Tyler Gayer has helped lead the attack with 34 total tackles on the year with two for a loss to go along with one interception. Senior defensive lineman Jake Walker is next with 26 stops and four quarterback pressures, Connor McDonald has 25 tackles, three quarterback pressures and two forced fumbles, and Adam Link has a team-high three interceptions.
ABOUT BUENA VISTA: The Beavers are averaging 22 points per game through the first quarter of the season and averaging 315.0 yards of total offense per game which ranks fifth in the A-R-C. It's been a fairly balanced offensive attack to this point, but the team has shown a great deal of improvement in the passing game. Junior quarterback Brett Garcia ranks fourth in the A-R-C in passing yards per game at 206.3. His six passing touchdowns are tied for fourth and he's also one of four quarterbacks in the league completing over 65 percent of his attempts. He was held to a season-low 169 yards thru the air last week against the Storm but has tossed for multiple touchdown passes over the last two contests.
On the ground, the Beavers are looking to continue building on the overall consistency. The team is sixth in the league at 108.8 yards rushing per game but has a solid one-two punch in senior Adriel Fussell and sophomore Trayton Cink. Cink turned in the team's only 100-yard performance of the year during its week two victory at Lawrence. He's eighth in the league in rushing yards per game at 46.3 while Fussell is just ahead in seventh at 57.8. The duo each has two rushing touchdowns with Garcia adding the other two.
Defensively, the team has struggled a bit to slow down its opponents, who are scoring 34.0 points and averaging 376.3 yards of total offense per game. The team is still looking for ways to shut down the run attack as team's are averaging 177.0 yards per game on the ground. Two of the first four opponents have been over 200 yards and those two have also combined for six rushing scores. The team currently leads the A-R-C in passing defense by allowing only 198.5 yards per game. Teams have tossed for nine scores with a majority of those set up by the running game. Drew Volkmann continues to shine for the Beavers and ranks third in the league by averaging 8.3 total tackles per game. Senior Brody Boeckman is second on the team with 27 tackles. Quincy Donalde and Elijah Romero each have a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss. The team is still looking to intercept its first pass on the year.
A pair of talented freshman have been leading the way in the kicking game for the Beavers. Punter Owen Fedje has been able to help flip the field for the team and has recorded at least one attempt of 50-plus yards in three of the four games so far this season. He punted a career-high four times last week versus the Storm, and that comes after averaging 47.0 yards in two attempts prior to that against Minnesota-Morris. Aaron Christian has been strong handling the place-kicking duties. He's made a pair of field goals on the year and is also 10-of-12 in PAT's.
