Football Preview: Loras

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Simpson football looks to extend its winning streak to four games in the series against Loras on Saturday as the Storm visit the Rock Bowl in Dubuque, Iowa for a 1 p.m. contest.

Simpson (4-4, 3-3 A-R-C) will try to stop a three-game losing skid to conference foes with a victory over the Duhawks. Loras (4-4, 3-3 A-R-C) has won its last two contests after starting American Rivers Conference play 1-3 to even its record.

GAME INFO
Simpson (4-4, 3-3 A-R-C) at Loras (4-4, 3-3 A-R-C)
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Rock Bowl | 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 are looking to get back on track with a win on Saturday as they have lost their last three contests to league opponents ... Simpson will aim to go above .500 with a win on the road, while Loras is looking to do the same ... the Storm lost a hard-fought contest last week to Central by a score of 51-34 after the Dutch scored 28 points in the third quarter ... the Duhawks have won two games in a row and defeated Nebraska Wesleyan 21-14 in Lincoln, Neb. last weekend.

LORAS SERIES NOTES: Simpson is looking to stretch its win streak to four contests over the Duhawks on Saturday ... the Storm and Loras meet for the 41st time in a series that dates back to 1925 season as Simpson owns a 30-10 mark all time in the series ... the Storm have scored at least 30 points during the last three contests against Loras ... Simpson won 38-33 in last year's matchup inside Buxton Stadium.

ABOUT THE DUHAWKS: Loras is currently tied in the conference standings with the Storm and have league wins over Buena Vista, Luther and Nebraska Wesleyan ... the Duhawks are currently fourth in the conference in scoring with 29.1 points per game and are sixth by allowing 29.5 points per outing ... quarterback Noah Sigwarth is passing for 207.0 yards per game for sixth in the league and also has six TD passes ... on the other side of the ball, Chris Miller is first in the league with 14.5 tackles for loss.

NEW TACKLE LEADER: Brendan Holmes is now first in program history in career tackles after his 16-takedown performance in last week's game against Central ... Holmes currently has 350 tackles, which topped the previous mark of 339 that was set by Jarod Young from 1993-96 ... the senior is second on the team with 74 tackles.

AIR ATTACK: Tanner Krueger passed for 408 yards last week for a new career high and also tossed 4 TD passes ... his top targets were Sam Bartlett and Austin Bell who both had over 150-yards receiving in the game ... Bartlett ended with 167 yards and one score, while Bell added 150 yards and two scores ... Krueger used six receivers to go over the 400-yard mark and hit 2,000 yards for a season in back-to-back years for Simpson.

TACKLING DUO: Seniors Michael Connor and Brendan Holmes are second and third, respectively, in the conference in tackles ... Connor is sitting at 77 and Holmes is nearby with 74 ... Connor has had at least 14 takedowns in the last three contests ... Holmes was named the American Rivers Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Central with 16 tackles against the Dutch.

CATCHING HISTORY: Sam Bartlett is currently third in program history in receiving TDs in a season with 12 and needs two more to tie the all-time mark of 14 set by Dusty Kain in 2003 ... Bartlett had a string of six games with a TD grab this season and had 11 TDs during that span.

STORM IN THE RANKINGS: Sam Bartlett is still making his case as one of the top receivers in the nation after adding to his stats in last week's game against Central.

Sam Bartlett:
Receiving yards per game (122.0) – 1st in A-R-C, 8th in nation
Touchdowns (12) – 1st in A-R-C, 9th in nation
Receiving yards (976) – 2nd in A-R-C, 7th in nation

AROUND THE A-R-C: Wartburg and Central meet on Saturday for a conference title on the line as the Knights are still undefeated at 6-0 in the league while the Dutch are closing in with a 5-1 mark ... Nebraska Wesleyan visits Luther and Buena Vista takes on Dubuque.