HANOVER, Ind. - The Bluffton University football team was unable to slow the Panthers in a 63-21 Hanover victory on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Bluffton fell to 0-5 and 0-2 in the Heartland Conference, while HC improved to 2-3 and 2-0 in the conference.

Sophomore Blake Rine (Heath/Granville) connected with Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) for a 33-yard score in the first quarter and a 40-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, but Hanover struck gold seven times in the first half en route to a 49-14 lead at the break. 

The Panthers sandwiched two more touchdowns around a 1-yard Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) plunge to paydirt with 4:22 to play in the third quarter as Hanover capped off its 63-21 rout of the purple and white.

Rine went 23-of-47 for 280 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Maalik Tucker (Fostoria) ran the ball 10 times for 56 yards. Beringer caught five passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Tyler Davis (Rittman) led the defense with 11 stops, while Karl Foster (Detroit, Mich./Denby) just missed double digits with nine tackles.

Bluffton moved the chains 29 times, going 14-of-23 on third down conversions. The Beavers finished with 445 yards of total offense, but Hanover was even better with 628 yards. A 31-of-37 passing day for the Panthers was too much to overcome despite Bluffton controlling the ball for over 33 minutes. The Beavers also added to their struggles with 10 penalties for 100 yards.

Next up for Bluffton is a Homecoming date with Rose-Hulman on Saturday, Oct. 15, when the Fightin' Engineers come to town. Kickoff at Alumni Field is slated for 1:30 p.m.

-BEAVERS-