Takayla Gadberry, sports information alumna
BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Bluffton University football team picked up a 27-9 win against Anderson University on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Beavers improved to 2-7 overall (2-4 HCAC) while the Ravens stayed winless at 0-9 overall (0-5 HCAC). It marked the 12th straight time Bluffton has defeated AU!
Less than 20 seconds in, Bobby Bourke (Commerce, MI/Albion) took a 10-yard run to paydirt for an early 7-0 lead following an 87-yard kickoff return by CJ Thompson (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor) to open the game. At the 7:28 mark in the first, Maalik Tucker (Fostoria) pounded into the end zone for a 14-0 lead in favor of the good guys.
Bluffton continued to pour gasoline on the dumpster fire outside Ramseyer in the second quarter when Bourke connected with Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) for a 21-0 lead. With 23 seconds left in the half, Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) nailed a 29-yard field goal to give the home team a 24-0 advantage going into halftime.
Baumgartner drilled a 35-yard field to open the third quarter and pushed the Beaver spread to 27-0. Anderson answered back with a short scoring run to get on the board (27-7). The Ravens were able to pick up two points on a safety early in the fourth quarter, but it wouldn't be enough as Bluffton dominated its way to the 27-9 victory.
Bourke went 11-of-21 for 118 yards in the win. Tucker tallied 18 runs for 71 yards with Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) just behind him at 17 carries for 26 yards. In the pass game, Stoner added two catches for 31 yards to his stat line while Beringer hauled in three balls for 25 yards.
Powering the Beaver defense was Nick Perry (Northwood/Lake) with nine tackles. Louden Saulbeamer (Dayton/Troy Christian) was two off his pace with seven knocks and one interception. Javier Johnson (Warren, MI/Denby) was on fire with two sacks and four tackles. Mitchell Young (Lodi/Black River), Khyree Conner (Cleveland/John Hay) and Keith Holmes Jr. (Toledo/St. Francis DeSales) were all in on a pair of Anderson quarterback sacks.
The Beavers were able to move the chains 19 times, compared to 16 first downs for the Ravens. The home team put up 213 yards of total offense with the visitors tallying 206 on Saturday. Anderson also had eight more flags thrown against them (15-7) in a sloppy game that zero flow to it.
The men hit the home turf again next Saturday, Nov. 12, when they welcome Northwest Ohio rival Defiance College to Alumni Field for Senior Day. Kick-off is slated for 1:30 p.m. Go Beavers!
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