Simpson College football starts the season with the best record that has been seen in many years, taking the first win of the season in game two. The Storm fought hard on Crown College (Minn.) territory in a close game on Sept. 9 to record their first win, 48-46.
The Storm fell behind early in the first quarter to the Polars. Reed Worth’s right pass was completed for a 39-yard touchdown with the attempted kick considered good to tighten the score.
With back-and-forth scoring throughout the first and second quarters, Simpson did enough to stay in the game but continued to trail the Polars, leaving half at a score of 33-21.
At the start of the third quarter, the Polars started with possession and gained a further lead with a 14-yard rush in 2nd and 10. The Storm responded on the next drive with a completed pass from J Jensen to Desmond Alexander. After the heated exchange for points, the Storm collected another touchdown from Danny Rankins Jr.’s 25-yard rush with 2:30 left in the third quarter. With a failed conversion, Simpson trailed, 40-34.
On the first drive in the fourth quarter, the Storm tied the game with Jensen’s pass to Worth. Keeghan Warner’s attempted kick was good for the Storm to take the lead for the first time this game.
Simpson’s own Jerad Fischer added to the scoreboard with the game-winning touchdown and an attempted kick marked good to grow the Storm’s lead to 48-40. Polars responded with a touchdown with 55 seconds left but it was not enough to take back the lead.
Storm was able to hold off to lead to their first season victory.
One noteworthy performance to bring the Storm to their victory included quarterback Jensen’s performance of a completed pass percentage of 60.5 of the attempted 43 and a total of 190 passing yards.
Rankins highlighted the Storm offense rushing for a total net of 105 yards, with Alexander following behind with a total of a net of 68 yards. Worth also gave quite the performance in scoring two touchdowns.
Eldred Boria led the defensive efforts for the storm with 11 tackles all of which were solo. Wyatt Schaben followed with a total of 7 tackles, 6 of them being solo.
Simpson College now holds a 1-1 record playing Nebraska Wesleyan on Sept. 16.
