Takayla Gadberry, Sports Information Alumna

BLUFFTON, Ohio - It was an electric night under the lights for the Bluffton University football team as they lit up the Kenyon College Owls 51-35 in their season opener. The Beavers improved to 1-0 on the season while Kenyon fell to 0-1. 

The Owls found the end zone first and completed a 2-point conversion to take an early 8-0 lead over Bluffton. The Beavers answered back just two minutes later with a 16-yd pass from Xavier Reyero (Corona, Cal./Corona) to Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) and a good kick from Drew Michael (Eaton) to pull them within one (8-7). Reyero fired a 63-yard shot to CJ Thompson (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor) for another home team touchdown and a 14-8 lead for Bluffton at the end of the first. 

The Beavers kept rolling in the second quarter when Reyero connected with Niegel Payne (Detorit, Mich./River Rouge) from 47-yards to take a commanding 21-8 lead with 12:32 left to play in the first half. Another toss from Reyero to Payne for 35 yards pushed the Bluffton spread to 20 (28-8). With 11 seconds left in the first half, another Reyero ball dropped into the hands of Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) and he did the rest for an exciting 35-8 Beaver lead heading into halftime. 

It was a quiet start to the third quarter before a botched punt gave the Owls the ball back at the 10-yard line, allowing them easy access to the end zone, and cutting their deficit to 35-15. A turnover on downs for the Beavers gave the ball back to Kenyon again, leading to the Owls hitting paydirt and making it a 13-point game (35-22) going into the final stanza. 

Reyero flung another ball down to Beringer for an easy score (42-22) while also the passing touchdown record with six in a game! Kenyon answered back with a shot of their own, cutting the Beaver lead to 13 (42-29). A bad snap out the back of the end zone led to a safety and pushed the Bluffton spread to 44-29 with 10:22 left to play. A fake punt, picked up on quickly by the Beavers, put the ball back in the hands of Reyero who connected with Thompson on the first touch for another Beaver score (51-29). Kenyon was able to find the goal line one more time, but it wouldn't be enough as Bluffton secured the 51-35 victory. 

Powering the Beaver offense was Reyero, going 24-of-38 for 404 yards and a fourth place spot in the record books. He set the school recored for passing touchdowns with seven scores in the game! Thompson tallied four receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns with Beringer pulling in five balls for 106 yards and two scores. Payne also saw four receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. Todd King (Springfield) added 55 yards to his stat line on 10 carries. 

Bluffton was led defensively by Nick Perry (Northwood/Lake) with 12 tackles. Jaydon McBreen (Portland, Ore./Westview) added seven takedowns to his stat line with Malik Echols (Cincinnati,Mount Healthy) and Dominic Barry (Brooklyn) both contributing six apiece. Marvus McWright (Westland, MI/Lee M Thurston/Davenport) brought down the Owls' quarterback for the lone Big Mac sack of the night! 

The Owls tallied 29 first downs in the game, compared to 21 for Bluffton, but the Beavers racked up 494 yards compared to 443 for Kenyon. The Beavers completed 25-of-39 passes, compared to 27-of-43 for the visitors. The Beavers also hauled in three interceptions while only fumbling the ball once en route to the victory.

Bluffton will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 9, when they welcome Albion College to Salzman Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. Go Beavers!!!

-Beavers-