Wartburg Beats Simpson For Homecoming Win [Video]

The Wartburg Knights won their annual Homecoming game, beating Simpson, 20-6. at Walston-Hoover Stadium in Waverly Saturday afternoon (Oct. 15, 2016).

Wartburg (4-2 overall, 3-1 IIAC) build a 10-0 advantage in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead. Sophomore quarterback Matt Sacia capped a seven-play, 75-yard opening drive with a one touchdown run less than three minutes into the game and sophomore kicker Brayton Brandt added a 28-yard field goal with 1:08 left in the period.

Brandt ended the day two-for-two on field goal attempts. He added a career-best 39-yarder with 15 seconds to play in the third quarter, putting the Knights ahead 13-3.

Simpson kicker Drew Jensen had cut Wartburg's lead to 10-3 at halftime, booting a 39-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Jensen cut the lead to seven-points again when he added a 30-yard FG early in the fourth quarter to make the score 13-6.

The Knights put the game away with an eight-play, 84-yard scoring drive on their final possession. Connor Schrader's two-yard touchdown run capped the march with 1:03 remaining in the game, then Brandt kicked the extra-point to set the final at 20-6.

Schrader led Wartburg's ground attack, rushing for 118 yards and one touchdown. Sacia was 15-for-23 for 174 yards, while Junior Griffin Brennecke had 86 yards on five receptions and classmate Riley Brockway 80 yards on seven catches.

Senior Brendan Schott led the Knights' defense with 13 total tackles. Classmate Dalton Ciavarelli (Clarksville) had a team-best 3.0 tackles for loss.

UP NEXT: Wartburg travels to Pella for a game against Pella on Saturday (Oct. 22). Kick-off is set at 1 p.m.

Courtesy: Wartburg Knights via YouTube