INDIANOLA, Iowa – Simpson football lost their 11th game in their last 12 meetings with Coe on Saturday, losing 35-21 in front of a homecoming crowd at Buxton Stadium.

After coming back to knot the game up at 14-14 going into the halftime, Coe (3-3, 2-1 IIAC) ran away with the game scoring 21 third quarter points as Simpson (3-3, 0-3 IIAC) only put together one touchdown in the second half on their way to their third straight loss of the season.

It was just one of the deals where it was just a fast game,” said head coach Jim Glogowski. “We missed some throws dropped some passes, and before you knew it they had points on the board.”

Junior quarterback Josh Rekers played a strong game for the Kohawks, passing for 2 touchdowns and 273 yards on 21-31 passing. Rekers also added a 1-yard rushing touchdown of his own.

Coe’s all-purpose back, Sam Lahr got the scoring started for the Kohawks, punching in a six-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter. Only six minutes later, wide receiver Nick Lenstra ran in a five-yard touchdown run to put Coe on top 14-0.

Back to back rushing touchdowns from Ethan Calvert and Dylan Berkey brought the two teams into a 14-14 tie going into halftime, although this was quickly broken up as Lenstra continued his strong game, reeling in a 50 yard touchdown pass from Rekers for the 21-14 lead.

Two more Coe touchdowns came in the 3rd quarter until Dylan Berkey dialed up a 55-yard strike with Walker Holland to bring Simpson within two scores as the 3rd quarter expired. Holland made eight receptions on the afternoon for 112 yards and one touchdown as Berkey was kept in check at quarterback, only passing for 190 yards, a season low for the senior.

Neither team was able to score in the 4th quarter as Coe hung onto their two-touchdown lead to move above .500 in conference play.

Coe had 24 first downs to Simpson’s 15 while outgaining Simpson 404 yards to 333 yards.

“I think third down is just an area we need to get better at,” said Glogowski. “You break those third downs down and that’s six or seven more opportunities for a drive to continue.

Field position was critical. All day long they held that advantage.”

Leading the Storm on the defensive side was Brandon Abernathy who made career-high 16 tackles while Shane Venteicher put together a 12-tackle performance.

With the loss, Simpson joins Loras as the last two teams still looking for wins in IIAC play.

Loras is coming off of two straight blowout losses, falling 36-10 to Coe two weekends ago and Central College, 41-14 this past weekend.

“I think both teams need a win and they’re probably looking at us the same way,” said Glogowski. “We are at a point right now in our season when all games are big, but now we are at the midpoint of our second season and we have to find a way to play better as a football team. It all starts on Tuesday at practice and on our focus on the details because that’s where the success is made.”

The Duhawks (1-5, 0-3 IIAC) come into the game allowing 11 points more than they score. Loras is second to last in the IIAC in team scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, and total defense.

Loras features a two-headed QB attack between Dylan Jones and Robert Kelly, both of which have appeared in four games for the Duhawks.

Junior receiver, Nate Even, is a favorite for the Duhawk passing combo, as he’s reeled in 18 more receptions than any other Duhawk receiver. Even is second in the conference in receiving yards at 697 yards, and third in the IIAC in receiving touchdowns at six.

Simpson will have to respond with an injury-laden team after catching an injury-bug that began in week two against UW-River Falls. Storm players and coaching staff refuse to write this off as an excuse for their three-game skid.

“Whoever is out there is expected to go 100%,” said Glogowski. “We can’t use inexperience as low hanging fruit, as it’s always easy to grab that and use it as an excuse for not going deeper. We need to look deeper into ourselves as players and coaches and if we do that we will be able to find success. We just need a good start and have some success early and build on that.”