By Tim Stried
October 5, 2002
The Bluffton College football team built a 31-0 lead after three quarters and held off a late Urbana University rally to take a 31-14 win on Homecoming in Salzman Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Bluffton evens its record at 2-2 overall and will kickoff their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule next Saturday at defending HCAC co-champion Anderson University (Ind.).
Bluffton senior quarterback Brad Moore passed for 252 yards and two touchdowns despite playing with an injured shoulder. His big day proved to be critical as Urbana held Bluffton to a season-low 116 yards rushing.
The Beavers overcame four turnovers to improve to 14-4 on Homecoming since 1985, with three of those wins coming over Urbana (1993, 1995, 2002). BC scored on five of their first seven possessions and held Urbana to a 4-for-13 performance on third down conversions.
Bluffton took the opening kickoff and marched 72 yards in 12 plays as Moore hit sophomore Michael Kingsley on a 20-yard touchdown.
Urbana drove their first possession down to the BC six-yard line, but a 25-yard field goal attempt was wide left. Seven plays later Bluffton found the end zone again as freshman Ben Dodds scored on an eight-yard run to put Bluffton up 14-0. A 20-yard run by junior Jovan Johnson and 30-yard catch by senior Tony Boenker keyed the drive that would prove to put Bluffton in control of the game.
Sophomore David Samsal booted a 29-yard field goal with 1:46 left in the first half to give BC a 17-0 lead, and on Urbana's first play of their next drive senior Darin Riffle snatched a Blue Knight pass on the right hash and took it back the distance for the third interception returned for a touchdown in Salzman Stadium history. The 35-yard return is the sixth-longest return of any BC pick in stadium history.
The Bluffton defense held Urbana to just 31 yards on their first four possessions of the third quarter to seal the game.
Bluffton junior wide receiver Jimmy Dwenger took a quick pass from Moore and sprinted 40 yards to the endzone to give Bluffton a 31-0 lead with 8:34 left in the third quarter to end the scoring for the Beavers.
Jovan Johnson rushed for a game-high 84 yards on 19 carries and had a game-high six catches for 52 yards.
Kingsley caught three passes for a team-high 93 yards on the afternoon, including a 62-yard hookup early in the second quarter.
Urbana quarterback Aaron Zimmerman passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Blue Knights, who fall to 0-5 on the season.