BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University football team delighted it Homecoming crowd with a 50-12 dismatling of Manchester University on a cold and rainy Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Sparty stayed winless at 0-7 and 0-4 in the Heartland Conference, while Bluffton picked up its first HCAC win and improved to 2-5 on the season.
Bluffton marched right down the field on its first touch before a fumble gave Manchester the ball at the visitor nine-yard line. The Spartans went 31 yards in nine plays but a punt sent the ball back to the home team midway through the first frame. A 31-yard scoring strike from Xavier Reyero (Corona, Cal.) to Niegel Payne (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) capped an eight-play, 89-yard drive that used up just 3:03.
Back-to-back touchdown runs by Todd King (Springfield) made it 22-0 with 3:42 to play in the second quarter. Manchester sandwiched a couple late first-half touchdowns around a Reyero to Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) connection, making it 29-12 at the break.
Reyero punched it in from one yard out for his first rushing touchdown as a Beaver late in quarter three and Salieu Koroma (Westerville/Central) tacked on a pair of exclamation points in the final stanza, scoring from 16 yards out and again from one yard out as the home team did not let the weather rain on its Homecoming parade!
King led Bluffton's stout rushing attack with 109 yards on 25 carries with a pair of touchdowns. Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) needed just nine carries for 90 yards after piling up 295 a week ago. Koroma added 58 yards on 14 carries and he scored twice.
Reyero completed 18-of-31 for 232 yards and three total touchdowns. Payne was unstoppable, hauling in six catches for 124 yards and a TD. CJ Thompson (Indianapolis, Ind./Park Tudor) was instrumental in Bluffton moving the chains, catching seven balls for 74 yards. Beringer chipped in with three receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Dominic Barry (Brooklyn), Nolan Whobrey (Louisville, Ky./Meade County) and Devin Hogan (Warren, Mich./Fitzgerald) paced the Bluffton defense with five tackles apiece. The Beavers used interceptions by Whobrey, Hogan, Davon Hedwood (Westland, Mich./Thurston) and Jaydon McBreen (Portland, Ore./Westview) to stunt the Manchester passing game.
Bluffton's 547 total yards of offense put the good guys over 500 for the second straight game. The Beavers finished with 280 yards on the ground, compared to just 52 for the visitors. Bluffton moved the chains 16 more times than the Spartans (26-10), while chalking up a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. Coach Nardo's crew had the ball for 19 minutes in the second half thanks to limiting Manchester to one third-down conversion for the game.
A trip to Anderson University is next up on the docket for Bluffton. The Beavers are set for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 28.
-BEAVERS-
