Not a lot worked well in favor of the Simpson Storm football team, as they lost 47-7 to No. 18 Coe College Saturday afternoon.

Simpson (5-2, 3-1 IIAC) fell behind Coe (7-0, 4-0 IIAC) early to open up the homecoming game. The Kohawks scored just four minutes into the contest, never looking back as they were on cruise control the rest of the way.

In a match that was garnering much attention not only by the IIAC but from a national spectrum as well, the Storm fall to second-place tie thus far in the conference standings with Wartburg, and the Kohawks sit atop the standings alone in first. Whichever team to win this game was likely to be considered as the 2012 IIAC Champions by man, and would be in the driver’s seat for an automatic bid into postseason play.

Coe’s quarterback, senior Jared McNutt, led his strong offense on a tear, completing 28-30 passes amassing 302 yards and two touchdown passes. McNutt controlled their scoring efforts mainly through the no-huddle offense, which was too much to contain for the Storm defense.

Almost doubling in total first down totals, Coe finished the ballgame with 31 first downs compared to Simpson’s mere 16. The visitors also converted much better on third down scenarios, with 54 percent of the time doing so. Simpson was only converting 33 percent on third down plays.

The Kohawk’s running game was just as good, if not better, when compared to their passing game. Senior running back Brendan Leiran led the running game by rushing for 155 yards and running into the end zone on three occasions. Coe ended with 225 total yards on 49 rushing attempts.

Simpson quarterback junior Taylor Nelson threw for 301 yards, going 29-43 with one touchdown pass and one interception. Senior wide-receiver Taylor Rogers was the lone TD-grabber. The pre-season All-American recorded ten catches for 168 yards, averaging 16.8 yards a catch. Nelson was also the leading rusher on the squad with just ten yards on the turf.

Senior linebacker Mark Cronin was the leading tackler for the Simpson defense, grinding out seven on his own and three assisted, totaling ten for the afternoon. Junior linebacker Tedd Haag notched eight total tackles; two solo and six assisted.

Those yellow flags coming from the ref’s pockets were also not so kind for the Storm‘s liking, as the team committed eight penalties totaling 68 yards against them.

Simpson travels to Dubuque next weekend to face-off against the University of Dubuque. Kick-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.