By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - On Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, the Bluffton Beavers would host longtime rival Defiance College in the final battle for 'The Hammer' for the foreseeable future. This outing would also mark the final collegiate appearence for 18 Beavers who will be graduating and pursuing other opportunities. With the Yellow Jackets moving to the NAIA, there is no knowing if, or when, Bluffton and Defiance will face off again, so the stakes for this matchup were high. Bluffton would get out to an early lead, but a second half comeback from Defiance forced the Beavers to fight their way into the contest. In the end, it came down to the final play where Bluffton was unable to convert, falling to the Yellow Jackets 23-21. The season comes to an end for the Beavers, finishing 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the HCAC. With the win, Defiance retakes possession of 'The Hammer' and concludes the year with an overall record of 4-7.
On their first drive of the contest, the Beavers would march 75 yards down the field and cap off a 4:05 possession with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Evan Unruh (Elida/Lima Central Catholic) to Koby Coffee (Antioch, Tenn.). Defiance running back Tristan Thomas would find the gap and break off a 41-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 7-6, however, a missed extra point allowed Bluffton to stay on top.
With 3:16 left in the first quarter, the Yellow Jackets would force an Unruh interception and knock home a 26-yard field goal on the ensuing drive to give the visitors 9-7 advantage to start the second quarter. The Beavers used some trickery with just under seven minutes left in the half, executing on a fake-punt with Nick Perry (Northwood/Lake) finding Hunter Newberrry (Corbin, Ky.) for a 35-yard completion on fourth down. Later in the drive, Unruh would scramble out of the pocket and make his way into the end zone from 10-yards out, giving Bluffton a 14-9 lead going into the break.
Coming out of the half both teams started slowly, going three-and-out on their first possessions. On Bluffton's second touch of the half, they would burn 4:14 off the clock and go 77 yards down the field before a fumble inside the five gave the ball to the Yellow Jackets. The turnover ignited the Defiance offense as Tristan Thomas was shot out of a cannon for a 98-yard run to paydirt just two plays into the following drive, giving the visitors a 16-14 lead with 4:53 left in the third quarter. The teams would go back and forth for the rest of the quarter, but at the start of the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets scored off a 5-yard touchdown pass which extended their lead to 23-14.
There was no quit in the Beavers as they would immediately answer with an 84-yard drive that was capped off with a DeAunte Hubbard (Columbus/Bishop Hartley) 4-yard rushing score, bringing the Beavers within two, 23-21 with 9:41 left in regulation. Defiance took over and burned as much clock as possible on the following possession, using up 7:42 and getting the ball inside the five-yard line in Bluffton territory. Despite their backs being up against the wall, the Beaver defense held strong, stuffing the driving Yellow Jackets at the goal line and forcing a turnover on downs, giving the ball back to the Bluffton offense at their own 5 yard line with 1:59 left in regulation.
The momentum was now in the hands of the Beavers and they would quickly march down the field and get into Defiance territory. After a 7-yard completion from Evan Unruh to Niegel Payne (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) on third down with 24 seconds left, Bluffton would have to convert on fourth and two in order to keep their hopes of victory alive. Outside of field goal range, Unruh looked to Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) for the first down, but Connor Essick would jump in front of Beringer and snag the interception, sealing the 23-21 win for Defiance.
The Bluffton offense managed to eclipse 431 total yards in the contest while the Yellow Jackets would net 373. Unruh completed 17-of-28 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and two picks. He also added 77 yards on the ground and a rushing score. Ethan Beringer was doing a little bit of everything, hauling in five catches for 62 yards to go along with two carries for 32 yards. Leading the ground attack for Bluffton was DeAunte Hubbard who ran the ball 18 times, notching 104 rushing yards with a touchdown.
The reigning HCAC Defensive Player of the Week, Travion Curry (Thomson, Ga.) collected six total tackles with two for a loss. Nick Perry and Mason Brandon (Louisville, Ky./Meade County) added six tackles as well in the outing with Jaydon McBreen (Portland, Ore./Westview) snagging the lone interception for the Beavers. Senior Collin Hoehn (Lima/Bath) and junior Maxwell Moore (Chagrin Falls) both had sacks on Saturday afternoon.
Continue to check the Bluffton Football Webpage over the coming week for updated record books and all-conference honors.
-BEAVERS-
