NWC championship to be decided in showdown finale at Grove
By Cort Reynolds
The Bluffton football team silenced local rival Allen East 42-0 in their Northwest Conference match Friday night at Goodwin Field in Harrod to stay undefeated and tied atop the league heading to the final week of the regular season.
The stingy Pirate defense came up with five sacks en route to their seventh consecutive shutout.
Bluffton scored all of its points in the first half, highlighted by a 28-point second quarter.
Bluffton improved to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the NWC with the shutout win.
The Pirates remain knotted for the conference lead with Columbus Grove (6-0 NWC), which hammered Ada 56-6 on the road in week nine.
Defending league champion AE fell to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in NWC play with the loss that snapped a modest two-game win series.
Running back Landen Worcester scored on a pair of three-yard runs in the first period to give the Pirates a 14-0 lead after the first two of Kyle Basil’s six extra-point kicks.
Gavin Bogart hauled in a 33-yard scoring pass from Garret Bogart to extend the lead to 21-0.
Gavin Bogart then found paydirt on a 21-yard TD run as the Pirates ballooned the margin to 28-0.
Braeden Jordan caught a 40-yard scoring aerial from Garret Bogart, and Basil’s fifth PAT kick made it 35-0.
Noah Bricker authored a three-yard TD run to stretch the lead to 42-0 before halftime.
With the running clock in effect in half two, neither team scored.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| AE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BLF | 14 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 42 |
Notes and stats
The Pirates totaled 363 yards on 53 plays from scrimmage, an average of 6.8 yards per play.
The Bluffton defense limited AE to a mere 126 yards on 52 plays, an average of just 2.4 yards per play.
The Pirates netted 195 yards rushing on 37 carries (5.3 avg.), while the Mustangs netted just 88 yards on 36 runs (2.4 per carry).
The Pirates passed for 168 yards, while they held the hosts to 88 yards passing on just four for 15 accuracy.
The Pirates compiled 18 first downs, compared to just eight chain-movers by AE.
Efficient QB Garret Bogart completed all seven of his aerial attempts for 153 yards and two TDs. Tayte Giesige hit on three of six passes in relief of Bogart for 15 yards.
League rushing leader Worcester rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries. He scored two TDs and had a long run of 26.
Gavin Bogart netted 34 yards rushing on four carries, with one TDs and a long run of 21. He also caught a team-high five passes for 86 yards and one score.
Bricker netted 47 yards on three runs, including a 38-yard rush.
Quinn Eachus added 12 yards rushing on one carry.
Jordan snagged two receptions for 48 yards and a TD. Hayden Dearth caught three aerials for 34 yards.
Carson Kruse was in on eight tackles, including one sack and one stop for a loss. Eli Jones contributed on seven stops, and had a sack and a TFL. Dearth and Worcester each contributed one sack, as did Xavier Diller.
The Mustangs committed just one penalty for nine yards, while the Pirates were flagged three times for 20 yards.
AE converted just one of 12 third down tries against the tough Pirate defense. Meanwhile, the Pirates were successful on three of eight third-down attempts.
Bluffton was 1-1 on fourth down, while the Mustangs went 1-4 on fourth down.
Both teams committed one turnover on fumble.
League unbeatens meet for NWC crown in week 10 showdown
The Pirates visit Columbus Grove (7-2, 6-0 NWC) in the regular season finale Friday, October 20 for the championship game showdown between the only two undefeated teams left in conference play.
The only CG losses came in weeks one and three on the road to Pandora-Gilboa (25-22) and Patrick Henry (40-28) in non-league play.
Since then, the rampaging Bulldogs have outscored their opposition 257-48 as they have rolled through the NWC in similar fashion to the Pirates. The tough CG defense has pitched three shutouts this year, compared to seven by Bluffton.
The Pirates have not been scored upon since a 28-21 home win over Pandora-Gilboa (6-3) in week two.
Bluffton is 4-0 on the road this season, while Grove is 4-0 at home. The Pirates have outscored their opponents by a dominating margin of 376-28 this season (41.8-3.1 ppg).
In the Div. VI, Region 22 computer rankings, Bluffton remained first after blanking AE. Columbus Grove, which crushed Ada 56-6 Friday to run its win streak to six, is rated fourth.
Elusive running back Trenton Barraza led the CG offense with 187 yards and two long TD runs at Ada in week nine. QB Landon Best also completed 13 of 17 passes for 227 yards and two TDs to a variety of receivers.
As well as the current league crown being on the line, a lot is at stake historically. CG has won 15 league football titles, including nine outright and six shared. The Pirates have captured 14 NWC crowns, with eight shared and six tied titles.
A Bluffton win would even the all-time league title count with CG at 15, and put them just one behind Delphos Jefferson’s record total of 16 championships (13 outright, three shared).
The Pirates have not won an NWC crown since sharing the 2005 championship with Grove and Crestview at 6-1.
The last Bluffton outright NWC title came in 2004 when they went 7-0 and edged second-place CG by a game.
Ironically that season, the Pirates defeated the Bulldogs 26-7 in the regular season finale at Grove to win the championship in what was a battle between 9-0 powers.
