Storm fall to Wis.-Stout in season opener

MENOMONIE, Wis. - Jordan Dabney caught a pair of long TD passes, Iyen Ogbomoh returned an interception for a touchdown and Wisconsin-Stout pulled away from Simpson for a 45-30 win in Saturday's season-opener.

Dabney finished with 223 yards receiving, getting most on scoring catches of 69 and 70 yards. The Blue Devils (1-0) scored 21 unanswered points to take a 31-17 lead before holding off Simpson down the stretch, spoiling Matt Jeter's debut as head coach.

Jordan Beem ran for 171 yards and Matt Burrell had a career day with five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns for the Storm (0-1). Beem extended his streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to eight, scoring a 3-yard TD in the second quarter that tied the game 10-10.

Simpson took a 17-10 lead when Caleb Frye hit Burrell on a 53-yard scoring strike, capping a 92-yard drive. 

Trailing 31-17, Frye found Burrell for a 20-yard scoring strike before Nic Tusha strip-sacked Stout quarterback Jay Alston, giving Simpson the ball on the 14. Frye connected with tight end Nathan Russell in the end zone five plays later, but the score remained 31-30 after a blocked extra point.

Dabney's 69-yard TD catch made it 38-30 and a quick punt on 4th-and-short from Alston pinned Simpson at its own 2 with 9:01 left in the fourth. Two plays later Ogbomoh stepped in front of Frye's pass and scored on the 5-yard return. 

The next drive stalled on 4th-and-3 at the Stout 30 and the Blue Devils ran clock from there.

Frye finished with 258 yards and three TDs through the air. Defensive end Isaac Frazier had a sack, a pass breakup and five tackles. Tusha had a sack and six tackles and linebacker Cole Cook led the team with 10 stops.

Up next: Simpson goes to Illinois College next Saturday, Sept. 10. The Blueboys beat Rose Hulman 14-13 on Saturday.