FOOTBALL:

The Matt Jeter era saw its first win, and Drew Jensen kicked a school-record four field goals Saturday as Simpson held on to defeat Illinois College 25-23.

The Storm (1-1) gave up two early touchdowns early in the first quarter but bounced back in a big way, outscoring the Blueboys (1-1) 25-9 the rest of the game.

Simpson got on the board late in the first quarter as backup quarterback Sam Sasso found Devin Norman on a 36-yard strike to the end zone. The Storm wouldn’t stop there, putting together the next three scoring drives of the game on either side, which included two of Jensen’s field goals and a Braden Meints three-yard scamper into the end zone with five minutes left in the first half, giving the Storm a 19-14 lead after a missed extra point.

Illinois College would respond, driving their way downfield for a touchdown of their own with Blake Maston hitting Brendan Finely for a 10-yard score to make the score 20-19 in favor of the Blueboys. Illinois College opted for for a two-point conversion attempt to give themselves a field goal’s lead, but the Storm defense snuffed the attempt to give themselves a manageable one-point deficit going into the half.

The second half gave way to a battle of the kickers as both defenses hunkered down and kept either offense out of the end zone for the entirety of the second half.

The Storm struck first midway through the third quarter, driving down the field in nine plays, ending with Jensen’s school-record tying third field goal of the day, a 31-yarder that gave Simpson a 22-20 lead.

With both teams trading possession for much of the third and fourth quarters, the final six minutes of the ballgame came down to the kicking game.

After an 11-play, 48-yard drive, Illinois College’s Zach DeWitt put the pressure back on the Storm, hitting his first field goal of the game from 24 yards out, giving the Blueboys a 23-22 lead with 5:53 left in the game.

Key plays from Sasso, Jordan Beem and Matt Etherton, along with an Illinois College personal foul allowed the Storm to move the ball downfield and within field goal range with just over a minute left in the game.

Facing a fourth down with the game on the line, Jensen stepped up and split the uprights from 28 yards out for the game-clinching and school record fourth field goal on the day, giving the Storm the lead at 25-23.

Illinois College would get the ball back, but the Storm defense held the lead intact, sacking Maston three times on the Blueboys final drive, twice by Jake Stearns and once by Trey Chumbley, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Simpson, icing the game for the Storm.

Sam Sasso was 11-30 for 154 yards and a touchdown in relief of Caleb Frye. Jordan Beem had his consecutive 100-yard rushing games streak snapped at eight, but still turned in 100 all-purpose yards with 89 on the ground and 11 receiving. Devin Norman led the Storm in receving, hauling in 4 catches for 68 yards and a score.

Cole Cook led the Storm defense with 17 tackles while Jake Stearns put together a standout performance with 12 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss.

The Storm are back in action next Saturday at Dubuque at 1 p.m. to open Iowa Conference play.

MEN’S SOCCER:

Garrett Pochop built upon his stellar start to the season, scoring twice as the Simpson men’s soccer team held on to beat Wisconsin-Superior Saturday in an outlandish 4-3 shootout.

The Storm (3-1) scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the first half, two off the feet of Pochop and one from Darius Doswell, in what looked to be the beginning of a Simpson shellacking. The Yellowjackets (0-4) fought back, however, scoring two goals of their own in a wild first half.

Colin Hemann increased the Storm lead to 4-2 when he found the back of the net in the 60th minute. Wisconsin-Superior’s David Villani brought the Yellowjackets within one goal when he scored in the 89th minute, but it was too little, too late as the Storm were able to keep possession and run out the clock for the win.

Colin Robinson had two assists for the Storm and Chris Harris had four saves as well.

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Simpson outshot Concordia-Moorhead 21-9 and held a 10-4 advantage on corner kicks, but settled for a 1-1 draw Sunday.

Garrett Pochop scored for the third time in two days, tying the game in the 53rd minute off a Sam Stephens assist.

The Storm couldn’t get find anything else past Concordia goalkeeper Ben Glogoza, who was a wall in goal, racking up 13 saves.

The Storm play next Wednesday at Grinnell.

WOMEN’S SOCCER:

Riley Adams was solid in goal, saving 10 shots, but the Storm couldn’t stop Yamilex Jaramillo as they fell to Wisconsin-Platteville 2-0 on Saturday.

Jaramillo scored in the 19th and 70th minute to push the Pioneers to 3-1 on the season.

Simpson’s Meredith Harrison and Casey Reisen each put three shots on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net as the Storm fell to 0-3-2 on the year.

They will play host to Iowa Wesleyan Wednesday at 7 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL:

The Simpson volleyball team went 1-3 this weekend playing in the Illinois Wesleyan Barker Classic in Bloomington, Ill.

The Storm swept MacMurray 3-0 in its first match of the weekend, but wasn’t able to find the win column again, losing to Rose-Hulman, Illinois Wesleyan and Benedictine all in three sets.

Jacqueline Luth had 20 kills against Bendictine, the most kill a Simpson player has had in a game since 2006. She finished the tournament with a team-high 49 kills.

The Storm take the court next at home Tuesday versus rival Central College at 7:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S TENNIS:

The Simpson women’s tennis team lost its home opener to Coe 9-0 Saturday afternoon before responding to sweep Bethany Lutheran 9-0 in the second half of Saturday’s double dip.

The Storm picked apart Bethany Lutheran, winning all singles matches in straight sets.

Kelli Greiner and Kayla Reusche cruised to an 8-1 win at the number one doubles spot, while Cassidy Bierbrodt and Sidney Griffith won 8-2 at the two spot. Liz Nimmo and Kelly Kuebler did their part, winning 8-5 at the three spot.