Record Setting Day for Hanus In Victory

STORM LAKE, Iowa - Quarterback Wyatt Hanus (QB, Jr., Traer, Iowa/North Tama HS) is the new record holder for touchdown passes thrown in a game in the Iowa Conference with seven after Saturday afternoon's record setting performance on the road for the Spartans. Hanus has quietly tied the record twice this season and today is the lone holder of the IIAC and the school record at the University of Dubuque. Hanus helped the Spartans improve to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the IIAC by completing 33-39 passes for 478 yards in the 47-17 victory over the Buena Vista University Beavers. 

Hanus entered the day ranked second in the country in passing efficiency and ranked first in the Iowa Conference with a 194.81 passing rating. He has 34 passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown and after Saturday's performance he's completed 190-252 pass attempts with just five interceptions for 2,607 yards in 2011. Hanus found six receivers throughout the day, but it was the senior duo of Demacus Fleming (WR, SR., Deerfield Beach, Fla./Deerfield Beach HS) and Michael Zweifel (WR/DB, Sr., Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater HS) who led the afternoon with 11 catches for 236 yards and 17 catches for 207 yards respectively. The pair would each catch three touchdowns with Fleming's longest touchdown catch of the day being from 67 yards in the second quarter and Zweifel's 70 yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. 

The Spartans scored on their opening four possessions while holding the Beavers to a field goal in their first possession at the Spartans four yard line. Not many teams have been able to slow down the scoring attack of the Spartans in 2011, who scored four times under 3:11 for each drive. The quickest drive of the afternoon was a four play 88 yard drive with 11:10 to go in the second quarter which lasted just 1:34. UD has been held to under 39 points just once this season and average 43.29 points a game which ranked them eighth in the country entering Saturday's contest. 

The Spartans 584 total offensive yards in today's win is the fifth time this season the Spartans have finished with 500 or more yards of offense for head coach Stan Zweifel. UD has 4,014 offensive yards in 2011 for an average of 513 yards a game.

The Spartans defense forced the Beavers into committing two turnovers with Malcolm Stewart (DB, Jr., Dubuque, Iowa/Senior HS) causing a fumble which was recovered by UD's Trevor Runkle (LB, Jr., Dodgeville, Wis./Dodgeville HS) and Mitchell Mahmens (DB, So., Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar HS) intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards to the Beavers five yard line before being called for a holding penalty which spotted the ball at the Beavers 35 yard line. Runkle led the Spartans with nine tackles including one for a loss. Ryan Arnold (DL, So., Kenosha, Wis./Tremper HS) finished with eight tackles and led the Spartans with two tackles for losses of seven yards.

Justin Spaulding (RB, Sr., Milton, Wis./Milton HS) returned three kick-offs for 61 yards and led UD in rushing with 45 yards and sits just shy of 1,000 yards rushing with 886 yards in 152 carries. The Spartans have 1,335 yards rushing entering their final two contests of the regular season. 

The Spartans (7-1 overall, 5-1 in IIAC) host the Luther College Norse (2-5 overall, 2-3 in IIAC) next Saturday on Senior Day on Chalmers Field in Dubuque. The Norse enter the contest on a loss to the Simpson College Storm by a score of 25-28. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.