After giving up 73 points on the road at Loras the week before, the Buena Vista Beavers football team tried to improve to 2-1 in conference play when Luther came to town for Homecoming on Saturday. However, the Beavers came up short falling 14-36 to the Norse and moving to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in IACC play.

Luther won the toss and elected to receive and started the game with an 11-play, 61-yard touchdown drive. Luther’s Yassine Ouazzani capped off the drive with a nine-yard run as the Norse took the early 6-0 lead following the missed PAT. 

Luther got the ball back after a BVU three and out at their own 35 yard line and marched it deep into Beaver territory. The drive would stall at the BVU 21, and once again the Norse missed a kick, giving the Beaver defense a little victory and the offense some hopeful momentum.  

That little victory for the Beavers was short lived when BVU quarterback Cole Miller fumbled at the BVU 40, setting up a short field for Luther. Luther capitalized on the good field position and capped off a 40-yard drive with the quarterback Ian Kuykendall rushing from 1 yard out. After the successful extra point, the Beavers found themselves down 13-0 with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.  

The Beavers struggled to move the football as they went three and out for the second time in three drives. A Morris Aranda punt pushed Luther back to their own 28-yard line and the Beaver defense needed a stop before things started to get ugly. Brady Illg recovered a fumble right around midfield and got the stop the Beavers were looking for. But the BVU offense could not get things going as another three and out gave Luther the ball right back.  

Luther went 10 plays and 57 yards in just under five minutes of game time and got a field goal to put them ahead 16-0. The following drive for the Beavers was a big one and they answered in a big way. Tariq Thomas and Cole Miller started to get things rolling for the Beaver offense as they marched 88 yards in 8 plays to score the first BVU touchdown of the game. Thomas ran for 37 yards and a TD on the drive and Miller went 3 for 4. That was the answer the Beavers needed. 

It looked like Luther was going to score another touchdown, but BVU’s Gary Weaver forced a fumble at the Beaver 4 and Griffin Reding recovered it at the Beaver 3, becoming another huge stop for the Beaver defense.  

The Beavers picked up one first down but another drive stalled and resulted in a Aranda punt. Luther completed a 60 yard touchdown pass to Nick Slavens and with the PAT good, Luther took a 23-7 lead with 3 minutes left in the first half.  

The Beavers went three and out and Luther drove down the field to score another rushing touchdown. A Kuykendall 53 yard rush was a big part of that drive that ended with a Kuykendall 3 yard rush, putting the Norse up 30-7 with 1 minute to go in the first half.  

A final minute drive would prove to be too tall of a task for the Beavers as Cole Miller would be picked off at the Luther 15 yard line, sealing the half time score of Luther 30, BVU 7. 

The Beavers would get the ball to start the second half and would look for any kind of momentum or positive plays to get the game back in reach. They would move the ball into Norse territory, but would end up punting. Lavaris Preston would recover a fumbled punt by Luther which would set up the Beaver offense in great position.  

The Beavers finally made the Norse pay for their mistakes as Cole Miller would cap off a 31 yard drive with a 7 yard rushing touchdown with 9 minutes left in the third quarter to bring the Beavers back to within 30-14.  

Yassine Ouazzani would again hurt the Beavers with another touchdown run, this one being 40 yards. The PAT was blocked and Luther would lead 36-14 with 7 minutes left in the third and Beaver hopes slowly fading away.  

After a few positive plays that put the Beavers into Norse territory, Cole Miller was again intercepted by a member of the Luther defense, making it his second of the game. The Norse wasted four minutes of time and punted the ball back to the Beavers with little time left in the third quarter. The Beavers would have had a fourth and 3 on their own 37 yard line, but Tariq Thomas was stopped just short of the sticks making a turnover on downs.

The Norse missed a field goal on their next drive, providing what looked like another break for the Beavers at the time. BVU would march 61 yards in 16 plays, only to turn the ball over again on downs after an incomplete pass on 4th and 17 at the Luther 18 yard line.  

Luther grinded out a 67 yard drive that took 7 minutes and turned the ball over on downs at the Beaver 18 with 8 seconds left, sealing the game once and for all.  

The Beavers gave up 608 yards of total offense to the Norse, 436 of those yards coming on the ground. Cole Miller finished 15-38 with 171 yards and 2 interceptions. Tariq Thomas led the team in rushes and rushing yards with 21 and 114, respectively. TJ Lint led the team in receptions with six, going for 52 yards. Eric Pacheco caught three passes for 60 yards.  

The Beavers fall to 2-2 overall (1-2 IIAC) and Luther improves to 3-1 overall (2-0 IIAC). The Beavers play at the University of Dubuque this Saturday, a team Luther defeated 21-17 just the week before.