Storm drop season-opener at UW-Stout

MENOMONIE, Wis. – Trailing 14-7 at the half, the Simpson football team couldn't get things going in the second frame as UW-Stout tallied 299 rushing yards rushing in handing the Storm a 35-7 season-opening loss Saturday at Don & Nona Williams Stadium.

Carlos Concepcion ran for 124 yards and a touchdown and Craig Warminski added 88 yards and two touchdowns for the Blue Devils (1-0), who won the first-ever meeting between the two teams on the gridiron.

“I was proud of our effort today,” Simpson head coach Jim Glogowski said. “Stout is a very physical team that controlled the line of scrimmage. When you're playing a good team on the road like we were today, you have to take advantage of the opportunities you are given or eventually the opportunities will stop presenting themselves.”

Quarterback Tyson Unkrich (Sr., Swedesburg, Iowa) led the ground attack for Simpson (0-1) with 59 yards, while passing for another 90 before leaving the game in the third quarter. Renauld Shelton (Sr., Kansas City) scored Simpson's only touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. He ended with 20 yards on the ground before also leaving the contest in the third.

“I felt good about things when the score was 14-7,” Glogowski said. “But in the second half we let the game get away from us.”

After surrendering an 11-play drive that ended in a Warminski touchdown to open the game, the Simpson defense held the Blue Devils to a three-and-out in their next possession. An interception by safety John Wolfe (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa) ended UW-Stout's next possesion while a personal foul on the play set the stage for a Simpson scoring drive that started from Stout's 38 yard-line.

Unkrich completed passes to Jake Rissi (Marion, Iowa) and Josh Wardenburg (Williamsburg, Iowa) on the drive, adding his own 24-yard scamper on the drive. Shelton finished the dirve with his short-yardage lunge, making the score 7-7.

Stout capitalized on big plays for the rest of the afternoon.

With just over a minute remaining in the first half, Warminski scored from 33-yards out for a 14-7 Blue Devil halftime advantage. Adam Winberg had a 30-yard touchdown reception midway through the third, John Sherman caught a 50-yard scoring pass with 12:22 remaining in the fourth and Conception crossed the goal line after a 70-yard rush to close out the scoring at the 9:29 mark in the fourth.

The Blue Devils were closing in on another score late in the fourth, but the Simpson defense forced a fumble inside the 10 to keep Stout out of the end zone.

Defensively the Storm was led by Cody Jensen (Sr., Grinnell, Iowa) and Braden Everding (So., Tripoli, Iowa), who each recorded 11 tackles.

“There comes a point in a game when you have to make a play,” Glogowski said. “We didn't get that today, so we'll have to look at the tape and figure out where we're at.”

Simpson hosts Northwestern (Minn.) in its home opener Saturday, Sept. 12 at Buxton Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.