By Bill Hanefeld Jr., interim sports information director
September 17, 2005

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University football team (1-2) suffered a 42-0 loss at the hands of the Thiel Tomcats (2-0) in the 2005 home opener for the Beavers.

Senior running back Ben Dodds (West Liberty/Bellefontaine) was the primary offensive threat for the Beavers as he rushed for 59 yards on 16 carries. Junior fullback Ben McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) gained 35 yards on nine carries. Sophomore linebacker Sam McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) paced the defense with nine tackles including 1.5 tackles-for-a-loss.  Sophomore defensive back Taylor Iceman (Lucas/Lucas) also contributed nine tackles on the day for Bluffton.

Thiel took the lead less than four minutes into the game when Brandon Chamber took a 22-yard pass into the endzone. Steve Minton increased the Thiel advantage when he capped off a ten play drive with a two-yard touchdown with 3:37 left in the first quarter.  The Beavers defense did the job through the second quarter until Minton scored with 1:31 to play in the half. Beaver penalties allowed Thiel to score again with less than a second on the clock.  Thiel put two more scores on the board in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a 42-0 victory.

For the game Thiel gained 366 yards compared to 115 for the Beavers.  Both teams committed their share of penalties as Thiel had eight for a total of 79 yards and Bluffton racked up six for 58 yards. Thiel capitalized each time it reached the red-zone as it went 5-5 when inside the Bluffton 20. The Beavers struggled with third-down conversions as they converted on only three of their 16 chances.

The Beavers will be back in action when they host Adrian College at Salzman Stadium on Saturday, September 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.