By: Jack Reed, sports information assistant

The Bluffton University football team was back in action on a sunny Saturday, March 27, as the Beavers welcomed Franklin College to Salzman Stadium.

Bluffton entered the contest with a record of 3-1 as they looked to rebound from their only loss of the season at Hanover last week. Franklin came into Saturday's game with a 2-1 mark, their only blemish a 56-19 shellacking at the hands of MSJ last week.

After 60 minutes of hard-fought football the Beavers fell by a score of 26-21. It was a sloppy performance from Bluffton that was also riddled with injuries to some very key contributors.

On Bluffton's opening drive, the Beavers fumbled a handoff and Franklin took over the the Bluffton 44-yard line. The Bluffton defense held the visitors to one first down and regained possession when Franklin came up empty on a 4th down rush. However, A 15-yard punt by the Beavers had Franklin back in business in enemy territory and this time the Griz cashed in with a 31-yard field goal. At the 2:20 mark in the first quarter, Franklin punched it in with a nine-yard Cameron Johnson rush and after one quarter of play the Beavers trailed 10-0.

Sophomore Brady Hauenstein (Findlay/Columbus Grove) intercepted a Franklin pass less than a minute into the second quarter, putting Bluffton in scoring position. But the Beavers would give the ball right back as they fumbled it inside the five-yard line when they were knocking on the door. Bluffton would be stout on defense and get the ball back. The offense put a nice drive together and at the 4:40 mark, Zachary Nobis (Bryan) ran it in for a touchdown from four yards out. Franklin answered right back with a 13-play, 67 yard drive that made it 17-7 heading into halftime.

Franklin came out and connected on a field goal following a second straight 13-play drive, making the score 20-7 with 9:38 to play in period three. The Beavers would not go away, though, as they put together an 11-play scoring drive capped when Nobis found wide receiver Laurenz Johnson (Huber Heights/Wayne) cutting across the field for a three-yard touchdown pass. The point after attempt was good by Daniel Blanford (Delphos/Clearwater), pulling the Beavers within one score (20-14).

Franklin pushed it back to 26-14 when Dane Andrews found Orrin Schmidt for a 15-yard touchdown strike midway though the final stanza. With just two seconds remaining, backup quarterback Darnell Thomas (Toledo/Springfield) threw a pretty touchdown pass to Plummie Gardner (Lima/Perry). Sadly, it would be too little, too late for the Beavers as Franklin corralled the onside kick attempt to seal the 26-21 victory.

Bluffton garnered 345 yards offense, including 195 on the ground, compared to 409 from the Grizzlies. Franklin converted 8-of-15 opportunities on third down, while Bluffton moved the chains on 6-of-13 third-down chances and two more times on fourth down. The home team finished with a five-minute edge in time of possession (32:29-27:31)

Nobis threw 21 passes, completing 11 for 121 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also added to the run game with 63 yards and a score on 19 carries. Senior Darian Greeley (Belleville, Mich./Chippewa Valley) powered the rushing total with 63 yards on just 10 carries. Sophomore Maalik Tucker (Fostoria) also went over 60 yards on just 11 carries.

Dana Shoulders II (Mansfield/Lexington) led the defense with eight tackles. Keith Holmes Jr. (Toledo/St. Francis DeSales) was in on seven stops, while Hauenstein and Nolan Childress (Cleveland/Ginn Academy) aded six tackles apiece.

The Beavers will be back in action next Saturday, April 3, when they travel to Mount St. Joseph to face off with the Lions at 1:30 p.m.