BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University football team fell behind 34-0 on Saturday, Oct. 23, as Hanover moved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Heartland Conference with a convincing 41-10 victory over the Beavers. Bluffton dipped to 2-5 and 1-3 in the HCAC.
Hanover went up 7-0 when quarterback Matthew Weimer went 57 yards right up the gut less than six minutes into the game. Bluffton trailed 20-0 at the break and it could have been even worse if not for a pair of fourth down stops on back-to-back possessions in the final two minutes of the second quarter.
Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) broke up the shutout with his 34-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Blake Rine (Heath/Granville) to fellow freshman J'Shun Rushing made the final score 41-10 in favor of the Panthers.
Rine completed 11-of-32 passing attempts for 156 yards and a score. Todd King Jr. (Springfield) paced the ground game with 53 yards on 11 carries. Fellow freshman Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) added 38 yards rushing. Treavon Cummings (Leesburg, Fla./First Academy) and Zane Dine (Marion/Pleasant) both chipped in with three catches.
Tyler Davis (Rittman) charged up the defense with nine tackles, including two TFL's for 12 yards. Senior Stephan Kosakowski (Cleveland/Benedictine) added seven tackles. Martez Nabors (Redford, Mich./Thurston) and Brady Welker (Delphos/Jefferson) were in on six stops apiece.
Hanover finished with a whopping 588-264 edge in total yards. The Panthers churned out an astronomical 342 yards on the ground (7.6 YPC). Hanover controlled the clock with a 35:29-24:31 spread in time of possession. The visitors picked up 12 more first downs (27-15) and they moved the chains 8-of-14 times on 3rd down, while limiting Bluffton to just 3-of-15 3rd down conversions.
Bluffton will be on the road next Saturday, Oct. 30, when the Beavers travel to Rose-Hulman for a date with the HCAC leaders. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-
