—Photo courtesy of Buena Vista athletics St. Edmond graduate Johnny Messerly having strong season for Buena Vista.

STORM LAKE — After hanging up his St. Edmond football uniform in 2022, Johnny Messerly wasn’t sure he would ever step on the gridiron again.

But after a year away, Messerly found himself immediately competing for playing time at the NCAA Div. III level with Buena Vista.

Now a sophomore for the Beavers, Messerly is the No. 1 option in the passing attack and ranked fourth in the American Rivers Conference in receiving yards this year.

“First, I just want to say thanks to my Lord, as he has blessed me with the ability to play,” Messerly said. “It’s been an honor to play the game again. Coming back to the field these last couple of years has been the best choice of my life and I look forward to the next two.”

Heading into a showdown Saturday with No. 18 Central in Pella, the 6-foot-2 Messerly has caught 27 passes for 569 yards and four touchdowns. He has recorded three games with over 100 yards receiving, including a career-high six receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown last weekend vs. Loras.

Messerly also hauled in four catches for 130 yards and two scores in Week 2 vs. Wisconsin Lutheran and had five receptions for 116 with a touchdown vs. Luther. He also had five catches vs. Coe and Dubuque this year.

As a freshman, Messerly played in 10 games, catching 24 passes for 313 yards with a score. He currently has 51 receptions for 882 yards and five touchdowns, averaging almost 52 yards receiving per game.

“I went to a high school football game after my senior season,” Messerly said. “I felt that I had so much more to give to the game and so much love that was left out there.”

During his time at St. Edmond, the football program made the transition from 11-player to eight-player. Messerly was playing his final season when the current group of Gael seniors were starting out as ninth-graders.

He caught 54 passes for 856 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior after hauling in 26 balls for 437 and five scores the season before.

“You can imagine how much of a jump it was to go from high school eight-player to college 11-player football,” Messerly said. “My freshman year was definitely when I realized I needed to adjust how I played the game, ran my routes and everything else on the field.”

The roster for the Beavers also includes former area players Tre Fisher and Colton Brant from Southeast Valley, Jaydin Anderson and Caydin Anderson from Manson Northwest Webster, Trayton Cink and Nick Leerar from Bishop Garrigan, Guyson Lyman from Newell-Fonda and Keaton Bindel from Pocahontas Area.

Buena Vista (2-5 overall, 1-4 in league) has two games remaining, as they host Nebraska Wesleyan here from J. Leslie Rollins Stadium and Peterson Field on Nov. 8 before heading to Waverly to face seventh-ranked Wartburg on Nov. 15.

“I just want to win,” Messerly said. “No matter how we get it done as a team. Through these last seven games, we as a whole have struggled. But with these next three, I just want to see us put everything together and be the team we’ve shown at times.

“I want to be the teammate that my guys deserve and play to my best ability to give us the best chance to win.”