By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
Oct. 4, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University football team dropped its first HCAC contest of the 2008 season when the Beavers were defeated by Mt. St. Joseph on Saturday, October 4, 2008. Bluffton dropped to 1-3 and 0-1 in the HCAC, while the Lions improved to 3-1 and 1-1 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The Lions took the lead in the first quarter when Vince Palmer found Tim Meiner in the end zone for a 6-0 lead. Mt. St. Joseph continued to pound the ball on the ground as Jake Davis found the end zone three times before halftime as the Lions built a 30-0 lead after just two quarters of action. With a minute left in the first half, Brian Weimer added a 21-yard field goal.
On Bluffton's second possession in the third quarter, junior signal-caller Brock Miller (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) ignited the Beavers' offense when he connected with Antwane Miller (Canton/Timken) for a 45-yard touchdown at the 11:27 mark. The extra point from Jonathan Thompson (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) made it 30-7 in favor of the visitors. However, the spark fizzled as Mt. St. Joseph hit paydirt two more times in the third to open a 43-7 advantage over the Beavers. A two-yard Jesse Held touchdown run concluded the scoring as MSJ recovered from a 27-21 loss to Rose-Hulman a week ago to even its record in HCAC play with a dominating 50-7 victory.
Bluffton gained 112 yards through the air on nine completed passes. Mt. St. Joseph piled up 489 yards offensively, including 303 yards on the ground. Antwane Miller finished with the longest play from scrimmage, a 45 yard reception. Senior Andrew Lovelace (Trumansburg, NY/Charles U. Dickerson) added 105 yards on five kickoff returns. The Lions held the ball for over 37 minutes, converted 10-of-17 third downs and picked up 33 first downs compared to just five for Bluffton
Freshman Steven Sealscott (Van Wert/Van Wert) paced Bluffton with 13 tackles, while Tim Thomason (Dayton/Northridge) and Jacob Luthy (Ida, Mich./Ida) chipped in with nine stops each. Mitchell Dunlap (St. Marys/Memorial) had three breakups and six tackles. Mitch Agner (Leipsic/Leipsic) picked up one sack in today's contest and Kyle Rode (Delphos/Jefferson) forced a fumble.
Bluffton travels to face 2007 HCAC-champion Franklin on Saturday, October 11. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.