Central hands Storm homecoming loss

INDIANOLA, Iowa - The Simpson football team got its running game back on track Saturday afternoon, but four turnovers and a Central rushing attack that averaged 7.8 yards per carry equated to 56-24 victory for the No. 8 Dutch on homecoming at Buxton Stadium.

Running back David Zachary ran for 155 yards and four touchdowns on 15 carries for Central (6-0, 4-0 IIAC), which remained undefeated on the season.

Despite outgaining the Dutch 466-409 and running 32 more plays on offense, Simpson (2-4, 1-3 IIAC) committed four costly turnovers and couldn't stop Central's ground game, which finished with 341 yards on 37 attempts.

"Unfortunately, we didn't take advantage of some opportunities that would have kept us in the game early," head coach Jim Glogowski said. "This game was indicative of our season to this point. We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers and any momentum we tried to garner was snuffed out by turnovers."

Simpson's first giveaway came on the second play of the game, when Central corner Cody Baethke intercepted quarterback Tyson Unkrich in the end zone, the first of three interceptions on the day. The play came after Unkrich found LeGrand Bien-Aimee off a 48-yard option pass on the first play from scrimmage.

Central capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown, one of four in its first four possessions in opening a 28-3 halftime lead.

Three of Central's first-half scores came courtesy of Zachary, who ended the day averaging 10.3 yards per carry against the Simpson defense.

"I thought our offensive line did a great job of getting off the line and giving us a push," Glogowski said. "But the story of the game was that, defensively, we couldn't stop their running game, which is disappointing because that's something we try to hang our hat on."

A blocked field goal by Simpson defensive lineman Vinni Smith to start the second half sparked a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for the Storm, as junior running back Matt Claassen made the score 28-10 after a 1-yard TD plunge at the 7-minute mark of the third quarter.

But the momentum didn't last long, as Central needed only five plays to go up 35-10 after a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Nate Snead. A fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave Central a short field and, four plays later, Zachary crossed the goal line for the fourth time as the Dutch opened up a 42-10 lead in a matter of 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

Claassen led Simpson's rushing game with 117 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Unkrich added 72 yards off 16 attempts.

After attempting 43 passes in last week's loss at Luther, Unkrich went to the air 36 times on Saturday, going 16-of-36 for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

"That's not who we are," Glogowski said of the team's 82 pass attempts in the last two games. "We are a football team that wants to control the clock on the ground, establish a run game and take some shots on play-action passes. Today, as in the last few losses, we ended up throwing the ball around more than we'd like because we're in a catch up situation. When we are in a situation where we can control the tempo of the game, run the football and then throw play-action, we're not too bad, and that's something we have to re-focus on."

Four different receivers caught four-or-more passes for Simpson, with LeGrand Bien-Aimee leading the way with five catches for 85 yards. Taylor Rogers, Ben Coy and Alex McCarty all caught four passes, with Rogers adding two late touchdown grabs.

Central attempted only 15 passes on the day, as starting quarterback Snead went a perfect 5-for-5 for 70 yards and a touchdown. Jeremy Snead was on the receiving end of the score, as he ended the day with three receptions for 54 yards.

Next week, the Storm hosts Dubuque in a 4 p.m. kickoff from Buxton Stadium. The game can be heard live on 105.3 KEDB and online at www.kedb.fm.