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Beavers romp in 31-6 win over Hiram

Posted: Sep 10, 2005

By Ben Risinger, sports information director
September 10, 2005

BLUFFTON, Ohio -The Bluffton University football team (1-1) defeated Hiram College (0-2) 31-6 on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Both teams started off the afternoon on a scoring stalemate as the score was tied 0-0 at the conclusion of the first quarter. The Beavers then posted their first points on the board early in the second quarter when senior quarterback Jared Owens (Van Wert/Crestview) posted an 11-yard run. Senior kicker Seth Burkholder (Bluffton/Bluffton) connected on the PAT to make the score 7-0. Junior fullback Ben McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) scored six minutes later in the period as he ran the ball (1 yard run) for his first of two touchdowns on the day. The Terriers scored their only points of the day with two minutes left in the first half when quarterback Mervyn Jones threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Henderson. The score was 14-6 in the Beavers favor as both squads headed to the locker rooms for halftime.

Bluffton then made good use of the third quarter as they posted three scoring drives. Senior running back Ben Dodds (West Liberty/Bellefontaine) took the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown run at the 11:56 mark to widen the Beaver's lead as Ben McCullough took a 10-yard touchdown run with 5:02 left in the third. Seth Burkholder then posted an incredible 47-yard field goal with only 10 seconds left in the quarter to end all scores for the contest. The final would see Bluffton pick up their first win of the 2005 campaign, 31-6.

Ben Dodds led all rushers in the game as he carried the ball 20 times for 132 yards and a lone touchdown. Junior Jeremy Haselman (Leipsic/Leipsic) led the Beaver receiving corps with four catches for 45 yards on the contest. Quarterback Jared Owens went 9-for-18 in the game for 91 yards in the air. Defensively, the team was led freshman Kyle Rode (Delphos/Delphos Jefferson) who posted seven tackles and two quarterback sacks.

The Beavers posted 337 total yards of offense (246 rushing, 91 passing) compared to Hiram's 198 total yards (20 rushing, 178 passing). Bluffton posted 20 first downs to Hiram's 12 in the contest.

Bluffton University will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 17. The Beavers host Thiel College at Salzman Stadium, kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.