By Cort Reynolds
Visiting Bluffton lost 42-14 at Columbus Grove in the Northwest Conference football season finale Friday night at Clymer Stadium.
Grove reeled off two runs of 21 unanswered points to post the win. CG led 21-0 at halftime, and never led by less than 14 points after the first stanza.
With their third straight loss, the Pirates finished the campaign 5-5 overall. Bluffton ended up 4-3 and fourth in the eight-team NWC after a 4-0 start. The defeat knocked the Pirates out of playoff contention.
With the win CG finished 8-2 and 7-1 in the NWC, good for second place behind champion Allen East (7-0).
Surging Delphos Jefferson won five of its last six games to end up third in the NWC at 5-2. Leipsic ended up 3-4, followed by Ada (2-5), Crestview (1-6) and Spencerville (0-7).
CG opened the scoring on a touchdown run of 32 yards. A nine-yard TD pass doubled their lead to 14-0 after one period.
A three-yard scoring run stretched the margin to 21-0 in the second period.
Bluffton scored its first TD on a school-record 99-yard fumble return to paydirt by Gavin Bogart. The extra point boot by Kyle Basil pulled the Pirates within 21-7.
But Grove responded with two TD runs of 69 and four yards to seize a 35-7 lead after three periods.
A 22-yard TD pass ballooned the Bulldog lead to 42-7.
Pirate speedster Griffin Stackhouse authored an 83-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to provide the final touchdown. Basil's PAT was the last point of the Pirate season.
Bluffton finished 18th in the Div. V, Region 18 rankings to miss the playoffs by two spots. Otsego (6-4) and Port Clinton (5-5) finished just ahead of the Pirates in 17th and 16th place, respectively.
Grove finished fifth in Div. VI, Region 22.
1 2 3 4 F
CG 14 7 14 7 42
Bluf 0 0 7 7 14
Notes and stats
Bluffton compiled 235 yards on 50 plays (4.7 yards per snap). Meanwhile, CG netted 517 total yards on 73 snaps (7.1 avg.).
The Pirates rushed for 143 yards and passed for 92. The Bulldogs compiled a whopping 348 rushing yards, and tacked on 169 aerial yards.
Garret Bogart completed 10 of 23 passes for 92 yards with one touchdown interception. Braeden Jordan tossed an interception on his lone pass.
Stackhouse led the Pirates 116 yards rushing and one TD on just five carries. He also added two receptions for 19 yards.
Hayden Dearth grabbed four passes for 33 yards.
Jordan snagged two aerials for 23 yards. Gavin Bogart had a pair of receptions for 17 yards.
Grove completed 15 of 22 passes for 169 yards and two TDs with one pick. They rushed the ball 47 times for an average gain of 7.4 yards per carry.
Bluffton converted two of 10 third down tries, and was 0-3 on fourth down. The Bulldogs made it on three of 11 third down attempts, and went 3-4 on fourth down tries.
CG compiled 23 first downs, while Bluffton moved the chains just nine times.
The Bulldogs committed two turnovers on an interception and a fumble, while the Pirates also made two miscues on a pair of interceptions.
The Pirates were penalized two times for 15 yards, while CG was flagged four times for 27 yards.
Quinn Eachus was in on 12 tackles, including four solos. Kameron Coughlan had 10 assists among his 13 tackles. Carson Kruse was in on 12 stops, 10 of which were assists.
Landen Worcester had eight assists and three solo tackles. Ian Rieman had one sack and a tackle for loss.
