Storm dominate Buena Vista in season finale

STORM LAKE, Iowa -- Cam Bunting ran for 254 yards, Tanner Krueger threw five touchdown passes and the Simpson football team closed the 2018 season in impressive fashion, routing Buena Vista 56-7 at a cold J. Leslie Rollins Stadium.

The Storm (7-3, 6-2 American Rivers) racked up 699 yards of total offense to become just the 20th, seven-win team in school history. Simpson's yardage total is the third-highest in school history and most since 1997.

Bunting averaged a ridiculous 8.5 yards on 30 carries for the fifth-best rushing performance in school history and most by a Simpson player in 20 years. The senior closed the season as the league's rushing champ with 1,396 yards, the fourth-highest total in school history and most in a decade.

Krueger threw touchdown passes to five different receivers, including a 4-yarder to Bunting. He also hooked up with Ricky Reeve, Joe McNally, Sam Bartlett and Terrhyn Jacoby to become just the fourth player in school history to toss five touchdowns in a game.

Reeve finished the day with seven catches for 104 yards, becoming Simpson's fourth receiver to crack 100 yards in a game this season.

Linebacker Michael Connor had another big day for the defense, making eight tackles and a season-high three sacks to finish the season with a league-high 8.5. Brendan Holmes returned an interception 42 yards for a score to close the first half, giving Simpson a 48-0 lead at the break. Vaughn Brasseaux and Zach Uhlenhopp also picked off Buena Vista signal-caller, Cole Miller.

Bunting's 1-yard touchdown run put Simpson on board in the first quarter and the Storm never looked back, scoring on each of their first four drives to build a 28-0 lead after the first quarter. The defense held the Beavers (1-9, 0-8) to four straight three-and-outs and 3 yards of offense in the opening frame.

After misfiring on his first attempt of the day, Krueger completed his next seven passes, including a 15-yard score to McNally and a 51-yarder to Jacoby.

Simpson's defense forced a third-quarter safety to go ahead 50-0. Krueger found Bartlett from 8 yards out two plays into the fourth quarter to give Simpson its highest-scoring game since a 58-20 win over Dubuque in 2003.

Buena Vista didn't find the endzone until the 4:32 mark in the fourth quarter. Miller threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Herrick to help Buena Vista avoid the shutout.