APPLETON, Wis. (Sept. 12, 2026) - After trailing 14-13 at the half, the Buena Vista football team regrouped and went on to shutout the Vikings in the second half en route to a 26-14 non-conference road victory on Saturday afternoon.

BVU used a balanced offensive attack on the day by  getting 203 yards passing and 184 more on the ground and held Lawrence to 65 rushing yards and 230 yards of total offense.

The Beavers struck first on a 35-yard touchdown reception from junior Johnny Messerly midway through the opening quarter. The Vikings, however, came storming right back only one minute later with a 74-yard touchdown strike to pull even at 7-7. Trayton Cink put BVU back on top on the next drive after finding the end-zone for the first time in his career with a one-yard touchdown run that capped a six-play 54 yard drive. The PAT was no good and left the score at 13-7.

Lawrence found the end zone for its second touchdown of the day with 6:36 to play in the half and would hang on to take that lead into locker room.

The Beavers executed an onside kick to begin the second half and took over at midfield to start the drive. Eleven plays later, senior Adriel Fussell went across the goal line for his first rushing touchdown of the year that was the go-ahead touchdown and gave BVU a 20-14 lead.

Freshman Aaron Christian did the rest of the scoring with his leg by knocking through field goals from 39 and 29 yards, respectively, in the fourth quarter that secured the win.

Cink led BVU on the ground with a career-high 106 yards rushing on 20 carries. Fussell added 80 yards on 13 rushes.  Quarterback Brett Garcia 18-of-25 through the air for 203 yards, one TD and one INT. Messerly was his favorite target on the day as he hauled in six catches for 107 yards and the touchdown. Cink followed with four catches and 33 more yards.

Quincy Dondale was all over the place on the defensive side with a team-leading 10 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss, forced a fumble and had one sack. Elijah Romero followed with nine tackles and also forced a fumble.

Buena Vista improves to 1-1 on the year and travels to Minnesota-Morris next Saturday, Sept. 12, for a noon kickoff.