STORM LAKE, Iowa (Sept. 5, 2026) - The Buena Vista football team kicked off its 2026 season on Saturday night under the lights but couldn't slow down visiting Benedictine University (IL) as the Eagles pulled away in the third quarter for a 41-14 victory.

Benedictine used a balanced offensive attack with over 200 yards on both the ground and the air to finish with 453. The Beavers were held to 271 overall with 215 of that coming through the air.

An opening drive field goal by Benedictine that used up over seven minutes off the clock proved to be the only scoring of the opening quarter. BVU had a chance to pull even late in the quarter but had a 49-yard field goal attempt of their own blocked.

The Eagles recovered the blocked kick and returned it back to their own 37-yard line to begin the next drive with 30 seconds left in the opening frame. That led to the game's first touchdown five minutes into the second quarter on a five-yard shovel pass. The lead later grew to 17-0 for Benedictine three minutes later on a 42-yard touchdown burst on the second play from scrimmage.

BVU got on the board late in the half after going on a 14-play, 75-yard drive that consumed 6:38 off the clock and ended with an Adriel Fussell one-yard touchdown plunge and 40 seconds left.

Benedictine took the ensuing kickoff and returned it 66 yards all the way down to the BVU 32-yard line with 26 seconds to go. The Beaver defense would come up big and force a field goal attempt, and the 28-yard boot would miss wide left as time expired, giving BVU the momentum heading into the locker room.

BVU got the ball to begin the second half, but on the second play would fumble the ball away near midfield after picking up a first down. The Eagles took advantage, and on their first play, would connect on a 48-yard touchdown strike to make it 24-7. They went on to add another passing touchdown and ended the quarter with its second field goal of the night and build a 34-7 cushion.

Benedictine added its final touchdown early in the fourth quarter before BVU used up nearly seven minutes of the clock to respond with a nice touchdown drive of its own. A nice 28-yard pass downfield to the one yard line from quarterback Brett Garcia to Johnny Messerly helped set up what turned out to be a six-yard touchdown run by Garcia.

Garcia finished the game completing 22-of-31 passes for 215 yards and one interception while adding 13 yards on the ground and the one score. Dennis Sebastian hauled in a career-high nine receptions and 68 yards. Messerly had two grabs for 42 yards.

On the ground, senior Adriel Fussell carried the ball 14 times for 41 yards and one touchdown.

The Eagles finished with 252 yards passing and three touchdowns with two of those grabs going to Alex Siebens, who finished with 113 yards on five catches. The team added 201 yards on the ground with 131 and two scores from tailback Tyler Pospisil.

Defensively, linebacker Drew Volkmann recorded a game-high 10 total tackles with Brody Boeckman, Landon Sietstra and Bobby Gross all adding five. 

Buena Vista (0-1) goes on the road next week for a non-conference game at Lawrence University (0-1). Gametime in Appleton, Wis., is set for noon.