Reutzel Rushes For 170; Storm Defeat Cornell 34-14
Adam Reutzel (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Prairie H.S.) led a Storm running game to over 300 yards as Simpson College (4-2, 2-2 IIAC) defeated Cornell College (0-6, 0-4 IIAC) 34-14 in Iowa Conference football action Oct. 11 in Mount Vernon. Reutzel rushed 29 times for 170 yards as Simpson posted 302 for the game.
It is the first since Sept. 23, 2000 (334 vs Coe) that the Storm have rushed for over 300 yards in a game. Reutzel raised his career rushing total to 3,251. He is now 55 yards away from tying the Simpson school record of 3,326 which was set by Ricky Gales from 1988-89.
"You have to give the credit to the guys on the offensive line," said Simpson head coach Jim Glogowski. "The offensive line was awesome today, it's a tribute to how hard those guys work (to get) Adam and the rest of the running backs the holes they need to be successful."
On the fifth play of the game, Cornell quarterback Dallas Bush got loose for a 50-yard scamper. At the end of the play, Zach Smith (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., CBC H.S.) stripped Bush of the ball in the endzone. The ball was recovered by Antonio Neal (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Ritenour H.S.) for a touchback. The Storm thundered to a 11-play, 80-yard drive over the next 5:48 which culminated in a Travis Dietz (Sr., Indianola, Iowa, Indianola H.S.) one-yard touchdown run. A James Gale (Fr., Waukee, Iowa, Waukee H.S.) PAT made it 7-0. Simpson went up 13-0 when Reutzel scored on a 22-yard run at the 8:10 mark of the second quarter. The Rams moved the ball to their own 39, going for it on a fourth-and-six. Jesse Struble's rushing attempt came up short, giving the Storm a short field to work with. Five plays later, Renald Shelton (Jr., Independence, Mo., Blue Springs H.S.) scored from five yards out to make it 20-0. On the ensuing Cornell drive, a pair of Simpson 15-yard penalties assisted the Rams' scoring drive which culminated in a Travion Hardman 1-yard rushing touchdown.
The Storm fumbled the ball on their own 24 on the next possession. The Rams took advantage, scoring soon after on a Bush one-yard quarterback keeper. The Storm took a 20-14 lead into halftime. Simpson, which deferred on the opening coin toss, received the kickoff to start the second half. The Storm regained the momentum as Smith returned the kick 90-yards for a touchdown and a 13-point lead.
"We found ourselves in a dogfight going into halftime," Glogowski said. "Mike (Cordes, the defensive coordinator and special teams coach) drew up a kickoff return at halftime. Zach hit it right away and scored. It made a huge difference in the game."
Cornell's lone scoring opportunity in the third quarter came on a 38-yard Don Bladt field goal attempt. Andy Jennings (So., Red Oak, Iowa, Red Oak H.S.) blocked the kick. The Storm took over the ball at their own 20. The ensuing drive put the game away for Simpson as the Storm put up a 16-play, 80-yard drive which resulted in a 24-yard Tyson Unkrich (Jr., Winfield, Iowa, Mt. Pleasant H.S.) run and the final 34-14 margin.
Shelton tallied career highs with 12 carries and 62 yards. Unkrich, who relieved Dietz at quarterback in the second half, rushed five times for 45 yards. Simpson only attempted 14 passes on the day with Legrand Bien-Aime (Jr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Stranhan H.S.) catching the longest pass of the day from Dietz, a 35-yarder, in the second quarter. Simpson outgained Cornell 382-223, holding the Rams to 82 passing yards. The Storm were credited with eight tackles for a loss and three sacks. Chad Onstot (Fr., Ackworth, Iowa, Indianola H.S.) was Simpson's leading tackler with eight. Cody Jensen (Jr., Grinnell, Iowa, Grinnell H.S.) made seven tackles. In addition to his 112 return yards, Smith made four tackles and forced a fumble.
Bush led Cornell with 110 rushing yards and was credited for all of the Rams' passing yards. He also threw an interception that was picked off by John Wolfe (Jr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lincoln H.S.) in the endzone in the second half.
"It is rewarding as a team to put up a 16-play drive," Glogowski said. "Adam and Renald did a great job of pounding the football. It was the first time all season that we put together and executed our rushing game. Defensively, we wanted to take something away from (Dallas) Bush. We were able to swarm him and make him earn everything he got."
The Storm are off until Oct. 25 when Simpson hosts Wartburg in a 1 p.m. homecoming tilt.
"We still have some things that we need to work on," Glogowski said. "If we keep playing hard, we will have a chance to win."
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Simpson College..... 7 13 7 7 - 34
Cornell College..... 0 14 0 0 - 14
Scoring Summary:
1st 06:18 SIM - Travis Dietz 1 yd run (James Gale kick), 11-80 5:48, SIM 7 - COR 0
2nd 08:10 SIM - Adam Reutzel 22 yd run (James Gale kick failed), 5-63 1:42, SIM 13 - COR 0
04:19 SIM - Renald Shelton 5 yd run (James Gale kick), 5-43 2:17, SIM 20 - COR 0
02:15 COR - Travion Hardman 1 yd run (Don Bladt kick), 5-60 1:56, SIM 20 - COR 7
00:22 COR - Dallas Bush 1 yd run (Don Bladt kick), 4-20 1:04, SIM 20 - COR 14
3rd 14:48 SIM - Zach Smith 90 yd kickoff return (James Gale kick), , SIM 27 - COR 14
4th 07:33 SIM - Tyson Unkrich 24 yd run (James Gale kick), 16-80 8:46, SIM 34 - COR 14
SIM COR
FIRST DOWNS................... 22 13
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 53-302 36-141
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 80 82
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 14-5-2 22-13-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 67-382 58-223
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-25 1-17
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-127 5-61
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 2-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-30.5 4-46.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 4-1
Penalties-Yards............... 7-86 4-17
Possession Time............... 33:01 26:59
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 13 3 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 3 of 3 1 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 3-14 0-0
RUSHING: Simpson College-Adam Reutzel 29-170; Renald Shelton 12-62; Tyson Unkrich 5-45; Travis Dietz 6-27; Team 1-minus 2. Cornell College-Dallas Bush 18-110; Travion Hardman 15-40; Jesse Struble 1-4; Thomas Connor 1-1; Team 1-minus 14.
PASSING: Simpson College-Travis Dietz 4-10-1-62; Tyson Unkrich 1-4-1-18. Cornell College-Dallas Bush 13-22-1-82.
RECEIVING: Simpson College-LegrandBienAime 1-35; Dillon McKelvey 1-18; Brody Tubaugh 1-16; Nick Burden 1-7; Aaron White 1-4. Cornell College-Thomas Connor 4-30; Kyle Tierney 4-24; Morgan Campbell 2-14; Jesse Struble 2-6; Travion Hardman 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS: Simpson College-John Wolfe 1-0. Cornell College-Don Bladt 1-0; Joseph Barlow 1-0.
FUMBLES: Simpson College-Travis Dietz 2-1. Cornell College-Dallas Bush 4-1.
SACKS (UA-A): Simpson College-Luke Stover 1-0; Ben Reutzel 0-1; Chad Onstot 0-1; Team 0-1; Jason Courtney 0-1. Cornell College-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): Simpson College-Chad Onstot 4-4; Cody Jensen 5-2; Ben Reutzel 2-4; Tim Stover 4-1; Luke Stover 3-2; Zach Smith 4-0; John Wolfe 1-3; Wardell Watkins 3-0; Jason Courtney 1-2; Austyn Wolfe 2-0; Ben Pruss 2-0; Paul Scaletta 2-0; Antonio Neal 1-1; Tad Stoner 1-0; Lucas Kramer 1-0; Justin Bolkema 1-0; Vinni Smith 1-0; Andy Jennings 1-0; Team 0-1; Jarrod Schott 0-1; Brody Tubaugh 0-1. Cornell College-Don Bladt 5-5; Leif Goleman 4-6; Brian King 5-2; Joseph Barlow 5-1; Garrett Weddle 5-1; Jahmaal Onoh 4-2; Jared Sanches 4-1; Zach Zasada 2-2; Zachary Freeman 3-0; Doug Elliott 2-1; Brian Hess 2-0; BubbaEisenhauer 1-0; Jason Williams 1-0; AaronSpickerman 1-0; Jesse Struble 1-0; Adam Williams 1-0; Dustin Davis 0-1.