Strong second half pushes Spartans past Storm

DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Simpson football team looked to hand Dubuque its first American Rivers Conference loss of the season on Saturday, but the Spartans outscored the Storm 27-14 in the second half to claim a 41-28 victory and remain unbeaten by a league opponent.

After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams traded a pair of touchdowns to go into the locker room knotted at a 14-all tie. Dubuque (5-1, 4-0 A-R-C) broke into the scoring column first before Brett Bobinet found Joe McNally in the end zone to cap off a 10-play, 68-yard drive. The duo connected again with 10 seconds left in the half to once more even the score.

The Spartans pushed the game to 28-14 in the third quarter before Hunter Ogle pulled the Storm (1-6, 1-4 A-R-C) back within a score with a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 00:49 left in the frame.

Dubuque put the game away for good with a rushing score on the first play of the fourth quarter followed by a 31-yard interception return that gave the hosts a 41-21 lead in front of their homecoming crowd.

J Jensen III and Cameron Jones would chip into the Spartan's lead later with a 10-yard touchdown pass. The drive started at the Dubuque 49-yard line after Jack Bootsmiller recovered a fumble by Lontrez Duckworth.

Austin Bell eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second week in a row with 111 yards on six completions, while Jones tallied 90 yards on six completions.

Freshman Zach Truitt had a solid outing with 10 tackles and two sacks, both game-high and season-high numbers. Boston Draper and Wyatt Schaben each contributed seven tackles.

Up Next
Simpson returns home to Buxton Stadium for a homecoming weekend game against Buena Vista on Oct. 23.