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Beavers rout Manchester 59-7

Posted: Oct 01, 2005

By Bill Hanefeld Jr., interim sports information director
October 1, 2005

BLUFFTON, Ohio -The Bluffton University football team (2-3, 1-0 HCAC) hammered Manchester College (1-4, 0-1) 59-7 on Saturday, October 1, 2005.

The Bluffton Beavers were clicking on all cylinders on Saturday when they traveled to Manchester to open Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action for 2005. Bluffton took a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. The Beaver ground game churned out 297 rushing yards as Bluffton backs went at, around and through the Spartan defense. On the other side of the ball the Beavers were equally intimidating. Bluffton gave up only 253 total yards of offense on the day and it picked off four Manchester passes, one of which sophomore Taylor Iceman (Lucas/Lucas) returned 42 yards for the final Beaver score.

Bluffton took the early lead six minutes into the game after Manchester fumbled on the game's first possession. Senior quarterback Jared Owens (Van Wert/Crestview) went 11 yards to put Bluffton on top. The Beavers would quickly tack on another touchdown after they held Manchester to one yard on three plays. Junior fullback Ben McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) took the handoff from the one yard-line and found the end zone, increasing the advantage to 14 points. Sophomore Sam McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton), who led the Beavers with 11 tackles, capped the first quarter blitz of Manchester when he picked up a blocked punt and ran it back for a seven-yard touchdown.

The second quarter was much like the first as Bluffton outscored Manchester 24-7.  Junior Jeremy Haselman (Leipsic/Leipsic) took a 31-yard Jared Owens pass into the end zone to start the scoring spree and junior Tim Berta (Ida, Mi./Ida) ended the half with a 12-yard scoring catch to put the Beavers up 45-7 at the break.

Manchester continued to struggle in the second half as the Beavers picked off three more passes and put up two more scores for the final tally of 59-7. Sophomore Aaron Whitlock (Grove City/Central Crossing) went in from 12 yards before Iceman put the game out of reach with his interception return.

Senior Ben Dodds (West Liberty/Bellefontaine) led the ground attack with 158 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. Owens threw for 80 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon before taking a breather when the game was out of Manchester's reach. Senior kicker Seth Burkholder (Bluffton/Bluffton) connected on all eight extra-point tries and a 34-yard field goal to tally 11 points.

The Beavers will return to action on Saturday, October 15, 2005 when they host the Anderson Ravens in the annual homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Salzman Stadium.