SCOUTING THE STORM: The team sits at 1-2 on the year following last week's road loss at Howard Payne University. The team dropped the season opener at Augustana College (IL) 42-14 before bouncing back for a strong home opening win over Crown College, 52-0. Simpson does alot of its damage through the air but has the ability to chalk up the yards on the ground. Thoreson, who was an Honorable Mention All-Conference selection in 2025, has been tough to slow down throwing the ball out of the gate this season and has already passed for 804 yards and eight touchdowns without throwing a single interception. He's completing nearly 70 percent of his attempts and averaging over 9.0 yards per attempt. Cracraft is a two-time all-conference performer (First Team in 2025) and was voted to this week's D3football.com Team of the Week. For the year, he has 511 yards receiving and seven touchdowns, and for his career has gone over 2,200 receiving yards, 145 receptions and 32 touchdowns.
As a team, the Storm rank second in the A-R-C in scoring offense, passing yards per game and rushing yards per game. Young is averaging 130.0 yards per game to lead the team and the A-R-C and has three rushing touchdowns. He's the only player in the league currently averaging over 100.0 yards per game. The kicking game has also been a nice weapon for the Storm as they come in perfect in extra-points (13-for-13) and are 1-for-2 in field goal attempts.
Defensively, the Storm sit fifth in the A-R-C in total defense and tied for second in interceptions at four. JJ Martin-England is sixth among all defenders in the league in tackles per game (8.3) with Noah Noland right behind at 8.0. Deuce Robinson has intercepted two of the team's four passes but has not registered any return yards off of either. The unit has been able to get into the backfield and cause havoc with Nolan Pagel leading the A-R-C with 5.5 tackles for loss as Benjamin Sopousek is second at 3.0.
ABOUT BUENA VISTA: The Beavers come off their bye week and sit at 1-2 overall while playing their first home game since the season opener back on Sept. 5 against Benedictine University (IL). The team is eager to get the A-R-C schedule off an running with hopes of continuing its balanced offensive attack over the last two games. Junior quarterback Brett Garcia has thrown for over 200 yards in all three contests out of the gate, including a career-high 238 yards in the week three loss to the Cougars. For the year, he's completing over 65 percent of his attempts for 656 yards and four touchdowns. Among his favorite targets has been Johnny Meserly, who is coming off a season-high 178 yards and two TD grabs. He has 14 receptions and 331 yards overall. Sebastian Dennis has a team-leading 15 catches overall for 105 yards. Tight end Gavin Honkomp has the other TD reception for the Beavers among his six total catches.
The ground game has been much more consistent as of late by averaging 152.0 yards over the last two games to go along with three touchdowns. Adriel Fussell and Treyton Cink have been a solid 1-2 punch with Fussell averaging 4.6 yards per carry and Cink right behind at 4.5. The duo has combined for three rushing touchdowns on the year and each have broke free for runs over 30 yards.
Defensively, the Beavers are allowing just over 28.0ppg and rank third in the A-R-C in total defense at 351.3 yards allowed per game. The unit allows the second-fewest yards per game through the air in the league at 203.3 but is the only team not to have intercepted a pass on the year. Drew Volkmann is tied for fourth in tackles per game at 8.3.
This marks the second straight season the team has begun A-R-C play by facing the Storm. The last time it won a game to begin league play was in 2024 when it defeated Loras College, 20-17, on the road.
