UPDATE Notes and stats added on October 22.
By Cort Reynolds
The Bluffton High School football team lost a 14-7 defensive struggle at Columbus Grove in their Northwest Conference showdown for the league crown Friday night, October 20, on the muddy Clymer Stadium grass surface.
Bluffton finished the regular season 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the NWC with the loss to finish second in the league.
Columbus Grove improved to 8-2 overall and won the outright league crown at 7-0 after the win. CG won its last seven games by outscoring their opposition, 271-55.
It was CG’s 16th all-time NWC crown, tying them with Delphos Jefferson for the most in league annals. Bluffton has won 14 league titles, but none since 2005.
The Pirate defense had its seven-game shutout streak snapped. They had not allowed a point since a week two 28-21 win over Pandora-Gilboa.
SCOREBOARD
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| CG | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| BLF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Grove put together a good drive midway through the first period, threatening to score. A third down pass by Landon Best was broken up in the end zone to force a field goal try.
The Evan Verhoff attempt was long enough but sailed just wide right to keep the game scoreless.
Bluffton was pinned on its own five after a CG punt late in the first period. Gavin Bogart’s 40-yard sweep around the left end was limited to 15 yards after an illegal block penalty was called.
Bogart gained most of the yards back on a pass from Garret Bogart short of midfield. A pass to the right sideline to Griffin Stackhouse brought up fourth and short at the CG 42.
The Pirates elected to punt and the Gabe Meza boot rolled dead at the CG four.
The Pirate defense forced a punt, and after a bobbled snap the short kick took a good bounce for CG.
Bluffton took over at the Grove 43 but could not capitalize on the great field position. A fourth down pass fell incomplete to turn it over on downs.
A penalty backed Grove up, but they commenced on a long drive. A Pirate flag helped start the drive.
A 20-yard run by shifty back Trenton Barraza penetrated Bluffton territory. A 23-yard pass over the middle to a leaping Zach Reynolds reached the Pirate 11.
On the next play, Barraza ran left, gave a nice juke fake and sauntered 11 yards to paydirt for the first points against Bluffton in 34 quarters with just 52 seconds left in the half.
The point after kick by Verhoff was good to make it 7-0 at intermission.
Bluffton began the second half just shy of midfield after a good kickoff return by Griffin Stackhouse.
Running back Landen Worcester continued the momentum by muscling his way for an 11-yard gain. The Pirate drive stalled though and on fourth and three, a Bogart rollout pass to the right fell short to turn it over on downs at the CG 34.
Two long runs by Barraza advanced Grove to the Pirate 28. Offsides cost Bluffton a first down to the 16. Barraza ran seven yards inside the 10.
On third and short, a CG false start made it third and six. Best ran right to the 11. On fourth and six they faked a run to Barraza, but Bluffton junior Brody Sommers batted down the Best aerial to stop the drive.
Garret Bogart kept the ball for nine yards, followed by a five-yard run from Gavin Bogart which moved the chains.
The speedy Stackhouse burst around the left end on a sweep for a 20-yard gain. But a holding penalty helped stall the drive. A broken play resulted in a big 10-yard loss for QB Bogart.
Bogart was then sacked for another loss. On third and 26 a long pass was overthrown. A taunting penalty on Barraza gave the Pirates 15 yards but they were still forced to punt, which was shanked out of bounds after just 15 yards.
CG took over on its own 44 with 2:03 left in the third stanza. On third and 14, Barraza was stopped well short. After two CG penalties and a high snap, the Bulldog punt rolled dead at the Pirate 31 with 26 seconds left in the third period.
On third and one, Stackhouse sprinted around the right end for 14 yards. Gavin Bogart ran a jet sweep around the left side for 16 yards.
Hayden Dearth then pulled in a reception from Garret Bogart after the QB made a good fake handoff to freeze the defense. Dearth broke a tackle at the 16 and then sped down the right sideline to score with 9:54 left to play.
Kyle Basil’s point after kick tied it 7-7.
CG took over at its own 20 after the kickoff scooted out of bounds just inside the left end zone pylon.
On third and three, Best kept the ball and spun his way to a huge 16-yard run to move the chains. Barraza then burst off left tackle for 16 more yards.
Josh Gannon then rumbled up the middle for 14 more yards to the Pirate 27. A Best pass was almost intercepted by a diving Carson Kruse.
On fourth and 11 at the 28, Grove converted the biggest play of the game and possibly season. Best lofted a pass over the middle to a wide-open Reynolds for a 27-yard gain down to the one.
Barraza then scored from a yard out to put CG ahead 13-7 with 5:07 left to play. The Verhoff PAT made it 14-7.
Stackhouse was dropped for a five-yard loss on the first play of the ensuing Bluffton drive. A pass to Braeden Jordan was barely long. On third and 15 Bogart was sacked for a short loss to force a punt on fourth and 16.
The ensuing Meza boot rolled dead at the CG 33 with 3:24 remaining. Barraza skipped and skittered for 12 yards. A long run of 26 yards by Barraza forced a Pirate timeout with under two minutes left.
On third and four, Barraza gained five yards for a narrow first down with 56 ticks left in the regular season. Grove was then able to run the clock out as Bluffton had no timeouts left.
With the hard-fought win, Columbus Grove leapfrogged Bluffton to the top of the Div. VI, Region 22 computer rankings. Bluffton dropped from first to second, while CG improved from fourth to first after beating the Pirates.
Heading to the playoffs next week, Bluffton will host a first round game vs. an opponent TBA.
The Pirates have outscored their opponents by a margin of 383-42 this season (38.3-4.2 ppg).
CG has now won 10 outright league titles and six shared crowns. The Pirates have captured 14 NWC crowns, with eight shared and six tied titles.
Delphos Jefferson has 16 championships (13 outright, three shared).
Notes and stats
The Pirates totaled 194 yards on 46 plays from scrimmage, an average of 4.2 yards per play against the rugged Grove defense.
CG racked up 256 rushing yards on 45 attempts, an average of 5.7 yards per play.
The Pirates netted 121 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.9 avg.). Bluffton passed for 73 yards.
The Pirates compiled 10 first downs, compared to 17 chain-movers by Grove.
Pirate QB Garret Bogart completed six of 12 aerial attempts for 73 yards and one TD with no interceptions.
Worcester was held to 41 rushing yards on 14 carries. His longest run was 11 yards.
Gavin Bogart netted 48 yards rushing on four carries, with a long run of 30. He also caught two passes for 22 yards.
Stackhouse netted 40 yards on the ground on seven runs.
Dearth grabbed two aerials for 32 yards and scored the lone Pirate TD.
Jordan made one reception for 12 yards. Stackhouse added one catch for seven yards.
Elusive running back Trenton Barraza led the CG offense with just over 200 yards rushing.
QB Best completed four of 10 passes for 51 yards on the wet night. Reynolds had two big catches for 49 yards.
Worcester was in on 17 tackles, including six solo stops. Carson Kruse had five solo stops and 10 assists, with one tackle for loss. Sommers had eight stops and two tackles for loss, plus one PBU,
The Bulldogs committed five penalties for 29 yards, while the Pirates were flagged six times for 30 yards.
CG converted just two of 11 third down tries against the tough Pirate defense. Meanwhile, the Pirates were successful on three of 10 third-down attempts.
Grove was 2-3 on fourth down, while Bluffton was 0-2 on fourth down.
Neither team committed a turnover despite the wet, slippery conditions.
