Football Preview: Dubuque

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Simpson and Dubuque meet on Saturday to open the first weekend of American Rivers Conference football play in 2019. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa at Chalmers Field.

The Storm (1-1) evened their season record last weekend with a 27-23 victory over the University of Chicago at home. Dubuque (1-1) had the same fate and moved to .500 with a 37-26 victory against Pacific University.

GAME INFO
Simpson (1-1) at Dubuque (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
Chalmers Field | Dubuque, Iowa
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

LISTEN TO THE STORM: For the fifth straight season, KNIA is the radio home of Storm football. The team of Andrew Swadner and Rick Wilson will have the call on 94.3 FM and 1320 AM or online at kniakrls.com. Fans can also download the KNIA app, available on iTunes and Google Play. Pregame coverage begins at 12:35 p.m.

FIRST AND 10: The Storm enter week three after a four-point victory over Chicago (27-23) last weekend to move to 1-1 overall … Sam Bartlett hauled in three touchdown catches of 47, 19 and 17 yards, while Zach Kreider chipped in two long field goals … Bartlett ended with 188 yards receiving and Tanner Krueger tossed for 331 yards … Joe Meyer added 70 yards on the ground in 20 attempts … Brendan Holmes forced three fumbles and had 11 tackles to lead a defense that held the Maroons to 103 yards passing.

DUBUQUE SERIES NOTES: Simpson and Dubuque are meeting for the 70th time in a series that dates back to the 1950 season … the Storm narrowly lead the series 34-32-3 … the Spartans have been on a roll over the last decade against Simpson and have won 9 of 10, including five in a row … Dubuque won 17-6 last year on Nov. 2, 2018 inside Buxton Stadium … the Storm's lone points on the board came off an 18-yard pass to Ricky Reeves from Krueger for a touchdown.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS: Dubuque comes into the contest with an even mark at 1-1 … the Spartans lost to highly-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opener, 42-7, but followed that up with a 37-26 win over Pacific University … in last week's win, Dubuque rattled off 28 points in the first half to take a 28-13 lead the break … the Spartans finished with 361 yards, with 265 coming through the air … as a team, they are scoring 22.0 points a contest and are giving up 34.0.

WEEKLY ACCOLADES: The Storm were heavily honored this week on the American Rivers Conference Players of the Week teams and also on the D3football.com Team of the Week … after forcing three fumbles and having 11 tackles, senior Holmes was named the A-R-C Defensive Player of the Week and was also named to the D3football.com Team of the Week from his safety position … Bartlett was selected as the A-R-C Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts from his wideout position … Bartlett is currently second in the conference with 307 yards and is tied for third with three touchdowns.

KREIDER KICKS: Kreider added another career long field goal to his list of accomplishments this season so far … after nailing a 36-yard kick in the season opener, Kreider stepped back a little further and connected on a 40-yard try last week at home … Kreider paces the conference with three makes so far and is tied for second with 13 points scored this year.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: The Storm will play in its only night game of the regular season on Saturday, while the remaining seven games are slated for 1 p.m. starts … the team's last regular season night contest came against Luther on Oct. 14, 2017, in which the Storm won 38-17 in front of the Buxton Stadium crowd.

TACKLING TRIO: The senior group of Quinn Slavin, Connor and Holmes are leading the defensive side of the ball through the first two games for head coach Matt Jeter's defense … Holmes has been all over the field and is second in the conference with 20 tackles to pace the team … along with his 20 takedowns, the safety is first with three forced fumbles … Slaven is second on the team with 19 tackles, followed closely by Connor with 18.

AROUND THE A-R-C: There are currently four teams in the American Rivers Conference with perfect records at 2-0, Buena Vista, Central, Nebraska Wesleyan and Wartburg … along with Simpson and Dubuque, Loras and Coe are sitting at 1-1, while Luther is the lone 0-2 squad.