By Ben Risinger, SID
October 25, 2003

BLUFFTON, OHIO - In a game that was only 3-0 in favor of Mount St. Joseph going into halftime, the Lions (6-1, 4-0 HCAC) took advantage of a 21 point second half to beat Bluffton College (2-5, 0-3 HCAC) 24-0 on Saturday. The shutout loss if the first for the Beavers since 1998 when they fell to Grove City 44-0.

The Beaver defense kept MSJ out of the end zone, forcing the Lions to punt two times and gaining possession off of a turnover on downs. Lion kicker Mike Riga would post a 38 yard field goal and a 48 yard attempt that would be no good in the first half.

MSJ running back Ricky Story was back for the Lions after a brief absence and gave them their first touchdown early in the third quarter with only 12:18 on the clock. Former Bluffton backup quarterback Mike Dane threw two touchdowns (35, 49 yard passes) to Andy Wellendorf to finish off the Lion scoring. 

The Beavers seemed to be plagued deep into Mount territory in the first half as the ball was turned over twice (11 yard line and 27 yard line) to not help the Beaver cause. The Lions were 2 for 2 off of red zone scores, with the Beavers going 0-3. Quarterback Jared Owens was sacked eight times for a total loss of 59 yards on the day. 

Leading the Beavers on the contest was Ben Dodds (West Liberty/Bellafontaine) who posted 24 rushes for 92 yards and six catches in the air for 14 yards. Quarterback Owens (Van Wert/Crestview) went 20-10-1 for 71 yards passing. Punter Tim Berta ( Ida , Mich. /Ida) kicked the ball five times for 155 yards (31.0 avg). Chris Sommers (Delphos/Jefferson) led the Beaver defensive effort with 12 tackles (2 solo, 10 assisted).

MSJ led in total yards, 346 compared to the Beavers 183 on the day. The Mount posted 137 yards rushing and 209 yards passing compared to Bluffton's 112 yards rushing and 71 yards passing. Bluffton led in time of possession with 31:52, compared to MSJ's 28:08. 

Bluffton will travel to Franklin next Saturday for another HCAC contest. Mount St. Joseph will host Anderson for another conference game. Kickoff for both games is scheduled for 1 p.m.