The Bluffton University football team is looking forward to its 2022 campaign after playing no fewer than 17 games in 2021 due to COVID-19 which pushed the 2020 season into March and April of 2021. Although the Beavers were 2-6 out of the gate, victories over Manchester and Defiance sent Bluffton into the winter on a high note. First-year Head Coach Matt Nardo looks to capitalize on that momentum when he takes his troops to Kenyon College for the 2022 season opener on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Sophomore Blake Rine (Heath/Granville) took over under center as a freshman and completed 100 of his 200 passing attempts for a team-high 1,153 yards with 11 scoring tosses. He showed consistent improvement and his off-season film work has the coaches excited to see him perform in year two.
Bluffton returns a talented cadre of running backs who all saw action in 2021. Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) went for 307 yards on 104 carries with two TD's as a freshman. Fellow sophomore Todd King Jr. (Springfield) added 288 yards on 62 rushes while senior Maalik Tucker (Fostoria) ran it 30 times for 176 yards (5.9 YPR). Receivers Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) and Treavon Cummings (Leesburg, Fla./First Academy) both hauled in 17 catches as sophomores in 2021.
Road grader Markus Finley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) provided the protection that allowed Bluffton to throw it around for over 180 yards per game. He has been dominant on the offensive line en route to a pair of Second Team All-HCAC honors during the calendar year of 2021. His work up front helped the Beavers put up 272 yards per game, 5th in the HCAC.
Three-year starting linebacker Louden Saulbeamer (Dayton/Troy Christian) wrapped up 50 tackles in 2021, pushing him over the century mark to 107 career stops heading into his fifth season with the Beavers. Saulbeamer had 2.5 TFL's and two breakups last year. Fellow All-HCAC linebacker Nick Perry (Northwood/Lake) finished with 48 tackles, including eight TFL's, a pickoff and a breakup.
Linebacker Tyler Davis (Rittman) filled it up with 33 tackles, while defensive backs Martez Nabors (Redford, MI/Thurston) and Davon Hedwood (Westland, Mich./Thurston) tallied 35 and 25 stops, respectively. Karl Foster (Detroit, MI/Denby) added 30 tackles in 2021.
Senior Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) was back on the gridiron after helping the Beaver baseball team to a Heartland Conference tournament run in the spring. He handled all of Bluffton's kicking and punting duties last season. Baumgartner was 6-of-9 on field goals with a 37-yarder in Bluffton's 31-7 Senior Day win over Manchester. He punted 62 times for 2,272 yards with five touchbacks, 12 inside the 20-yard line and eight that went for 50 yards or more, including a school-record 90-yard punt! His 37 points scored led Bluffton in 2021 as he converted 19-of-21 PAT's to go along with his six field goals. The two-sport standout was All-Heartland Conference in both baseball and football in 2021-22!
Bluffton is slated to open its 2022 campaign at Kenyon, the first of two straight road games before the Beavers welcome Adrian College for their inaugural game under the lights at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17. Franklin College comes to town for the HCAC lidlifter two weeks later, kicking off seven straight Heartland Conference contests. Home matchups against Anderson and Defiance cap off 2022 on November 5 and November 12.
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