The Simpson football team battled high winds on the road at Dubuque to begin American Rivers Conference play Saturday, falling to the Spartans 28-14 as heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Storm opened the game with a 35-yard strike from quarterback J Jensen to Noah Cracraft to lead 7-0, however the Spartans found paydirt on a 4th and goal at the end of the quarter to tie the score at 7 going into the second, when the wind and field direction flipped. The Storm offense couldn’t get going while Dubuque rode the wind to two more scores in the half to lead 21-7 at the break. A pick-six on the second play in the second half put the Spartans up 28-7 and in full control, but the Storm defense forced multiple turnovers and gave the team a chance to get back in it, but a pair of stalled drives in Dubuque territory sandwiched another Jensen to Cracraft connection late to get to the final score.

Head coach Reed Hoskins tells KNIA Sports he was proud of the way his defense buckled down and didn’t allow any second half points to give the team a chance to get back in it, and there are a lot of positives to take away from the loss.

The Storm are now 1-2 on the season, and will next play at home against Loras.