September 23, 2017
By: Colton Steiner, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University football squad hosted Franklin College, the school that has dominated the HCAC during the past decade, on an oppressively hot Saturday, Sept. 23. A quick start by the Grizzlies put Franklin ahead early and the visitors looked back as the Beavers were on the wrong end of a 59-30 final tally, dropping to 1-3 on the season and 1-1 in Heartland Conference play.
Franklin jumped out to a 14-0 advantage after a two-yard run by JORDAN BROWN and a 24-yard TD reception by LEE WROBLEWSKI midway through the opening stanza. The Beavers moved inside the Franklin 15-yard line but they had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by JORDAN WATKINS (Reynoldsburg) with 1:27 to play in the first quarter.
Senior MICAH ROBERSON (Ada) hauled in his second touchdown of the season courtesy of a 29-yard strike from COLBY SPEICE (Paulding/Wayne Trace) early in quarter two. Franklin needed just 1:03 to answer and the Grizzlies tacked on another TD with 47 seconds left in the second quarter for a 28-9 lead at the break.
The Grizzlies didn't miss a beat in the second half as they needed just over two minutes to increase their lead to 35-9. It would only take Bluffton 1:25 to answer with a score of its own when Colby Speice found KEYON CAMDEN (Wayne/Elmwood) in the end zone from 35 yards out to make it 35-16.
The Grizzlies led 42-23 after three periods before kicking it into fifth gear with two touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter to go up 59-23 with less than a minute to go. After recovering a fumble, the Beavers hit paydirt one more time when BRANDON KOCH (West Harrison, Ind./East Central) found ADAM DUNCAN (Northwood/Lake) in stride from 27-yards out with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Senior wide receiver Micah Roberson made history for the Bluffton football program as became the first player to eclipse 3,000 career receiving yards. Roberson now has 3,108 yards receiving on 291 receptions and 27 touchdowns for his career!
Leading the way on the offensive side of the ball was Colby Speice who completed 24-of-37 for 295 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. DARIAN GREELEY (Mt. Clemens, Mich./Chip. Valley) led the Beavers on the ground with nine carries for 49 yards. Micah Roberson hauled in 12 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown while Keyon Camden had six big catches for 109 yards and a score. The home team was able to muster up 512 yards of total offense to the Grizzlies' 586 yards. Koch connected on nine passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
DYLAN SHAFFER (Shelby) paced the Beavers with nine tackles. Junior OLLIE MOORER (Warrensville/Warrensville Heights) wrapped up four tackles and a sack for Bluffton while STEPHAN KOSAKOWSKI (Cleveland/Benedictine) added four solo stops. The Beaver defense struggled as they allowed the Grizzlies to go 6-of-6 in the red zone, 19.1 yards per completion and 478 yards through the air.
Bluffton will take advantage of the bye week as they prepare for Homecoming weekend against Anderson on Saturday, Oct. 7, with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. Come out and support your Beavers!
-BEAVERS-