By Bryan Kress
Whatever halftime speech or adjustments Head Coach Dennis Lee made sure seemed to work as the Pirates were down 14-10 at the half.
However, on another rainy Friday night the Pirates completely took the game over against a tough Columbus Grove team playing for their playoff lives, scoring four touchdowns in the final half of the season.
Bluffton led the yardage battle 258-201 as the defense played lights out for the second straight week and the offense had complete control on the ground as the team rushed for 258 yards.
The first quarter was all Grove as the opening kickoff was taken 99 yards for a score and the two-point conversion was added to make the score 8-0. Then Grove would punch in a five-yard run, but miss the extra point to go up 14.
After the miscues it was all Bluffton. In the second quarter quarterback Robbie Stratton hit Drake Luginbuhl for a 21-yard pass for the touchdown.
The defense would force a fumble on the next drive and the offense would take over, driving 65 yards and kicking a field goal before the half to climb within four points at 14-10.
The Pirates came out of the half on a mission and proved it when Stratton hit Levi Kistler for a 49-yard touchdown pass to gain the lead 17-10.
The defense would force two more fumbles in the third quarter before Stratton sprinted 57 yards in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter for a touchdown.
Another Bluffton fumble recovery led to a Mitchell Ault touchdown rush from a yard out to go up 31-14.
With the game in hand the defense decided to show-off again as Noah Stratton picked-off a pass and hustled 35 yards for a score to cap the scoring at 38-14.
Robbie Stratton had his best overall game of the year completing 60 percent of his passes for 122 yards and two scores, as well as 88 yards rushing and one touchdown. More importantly he had zero turnovers.
Jonah Bourassa had another huge night as he led the Pirate rushing attack with 125 yards.
Defensively the Pirates played one of the best games of the season as they allowed only one touchdown and forced five total turnovers. Austin Devier had a monster game with 10 total tackles along with Drake Luginbuhl who had nine. Robbie Stratton had a great game on defense as well recording 12 total tackles.
The team finished 5-5 on the year which is impressive after playing several tough teams on the road. They will look to build on a strong showing from young players but will miss the contributions from their seniors who will be sorely missed.
