Worcester scores 6 TDs
By Cort Reynolds

DEFIANCE __ The Bluffton High School football team used an explosive offense to blast Ottawa Hills 61-22 in their Div. VI, Region 22 semifinal matchup at neutral-site Fred J. Brown Stadium in Defiance on a crisp and cool Friday night, November 15.

Bluffton senior running back Landen Worcester tallied five of his six touchdowns in the first half to key a 26-7 second period outburst that broke the game open.

After falling behind 15-13, the Pirates scored 41 unanswered points in the middle quarters to blow out the Green Bears for the second straight year in the same playoff round.

The Pirates scored on five straight possessions in the first half to take control of a wild offensive battle. Bluffton then hit paydirt on their three third period drives to put the game well out of reach.
Bluffton improved to 12-1 with the victory to advance to the regional finals for the second straight season. The third-seeded Green Bears ended up 10-2 after the loss. ▶︎

It marks the second straight season the Pirates eliminated OH in round three. Last year they shut out the Green Bears, 34-0.

The second seed Pirates will face fourth-seeded Patrick Henry (11-2) at a neutral site in the regional finals Nov. 22.

PH upset previously unbeaten number one seed Hopewell-Loudon (11-1) Friday in the other regional semifinal at Findlay, 35-7. The Patriots also eliminated H-L in the third round last fall.

On the game’s first drive, Ottawa Hills penetrated the Pirate 30.

But Bluffton senior Quinn Eachus broke up a pass near the goal line. On fourth down from the Pirate 29, Chase Miller’s long pass hit his receiver in the shoulder and fell incomplete.

Quarterback Tayte Giesige faked a handoff and ran for 26 yards to the Green Bear 45 on the first Pirate play from scrimmage. On fourth and 11, his run came up just short and they turned it over on downs near the OH 25.

The Bears completed a 25-yard pass and got across midfield before their next drive stalled. A short punt rolled out of bounds at the Pirate 20 with 4:27 left in the first period.

Two plays later, senior back Landen Worcester broke a tackle, burst through the line and outran the defense 75 yards to paydirt to give Bluffton the lead with 3:41 to go in the opening stanza.
Jackson Brauen’s extra point boot made it 7-0.

Miller’s pass was snared by Nick Anderson, who stepped out of bounds at the 18 to prevent a long TD aerial. Another Miller pass to Jackson Snyder advanced the ball to the Pirate two.
On the next play, Miller faked a handoff and kept it for a two-yard TD run with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Bear Nick Anderson ran in the two-point conversion out of a Wildcat formation to put OH ahead, 8-7.
Bluffton returned the ensuing kickoff to its own 38. Noah Bricker then caught a pass and scampered 51 yards to the OH 11 before Miller brought him to the turf.

On the first play of the second quarter, Worcester scored on a nine-yard run to make it 13-8. The PAT kick was blocked to keep the margin at five at the 11:54 mark.

A long Miller catch and carry pass to Anderson covered 78 yards to paydirt just a moment later. The extra point kick put OH ahead 15-13.

Eachus caught a Giesige pass over the middle and rambled 45 yards to the Bear 17 to ignite the next drive. Griffin Stackhouse sped 11 yards to set up first and goal.
Worcester then ran it into the end zone on the next play to cap the 60-yard drive with this third TD of the first half.

Brauen’s 30-yard extra point kick, necessitated by a holding penalty that negated a successful two-point pass, missed to make it 20-15.

The first turnover of the night caused a big momentum shift.

Mason Shank then recovered a strip sack fumble of Miller caused by Evan Grothause at the OH 31. On third and one, Worcester broke a tackle and gained 13 yards to the nine.

Worcester then muscled his way through three would-be tacklers into the end zone from nine yards out for his fourth TD.

Giesige was stopped short on his two-point run try to keep the lead at 26-15 with just under seven minutes left in the half.

OH took over at its own 24 after the ensuing kickoff. The Pirate defense forced a Bear punt, which was shanked out of bounds near midfield.

Bluffton quickly drove inside the 10, all on the ground. Worcester ran it in for his fifth score of the half to make it 32-15 with 51 seconds left in the second stanza.

The Brauen PAT kick extended the lead to 33-15 as the Pirates scored 20 unanswered points to end the wild half. Bluffton scored TDs on all four second period possessions, all by Worcester.

Worcester netted 133 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 11 carries in his historic opening half explosion. On defense, he added eight tackles.

Giesige had 56 yards on six runs and completed three passes for 91 more yards. Bluffton ran for 235 yards and rolled up 326 total yards in the big half.

Bluffton got good field position to start the second half when Carson Kruse recovered an on-sides kick at the 43.

The Pirates proceeded to march to the Bear 31, where a long pass to Stackhouse fell incomplete. Bricker then broke a tackle on a sweep and scampered 31 yards to paydirt to stretch the margin to 39-15.

Brauen’s PAT boot at the 9:37 mark pushed the advantage to 25 points.

Another Worcester TD run advanced the lead to 31. Brauen’s point after kick made it 47-15 after their 34th consecutive point.

Worcester recovered a Bear fumble on their next possession to give Bluffton the ball in OH territory.
Sophomore signal-caller Giesige tossed a scoring aerial to Stackhouse from 26 yards out to balloon the margin to 38 points. Brauen’s extra point kick made it 54-15 with two minutes left in the third period.

OH finally ended their scoreless drought when Reddik Pillarelli hauled in a 49-yard TD pass from Miller. The extra point kick was good to cut the deficit to 54-22 with 9:26 remaining.

Sophomore back Parker Lovell answered with a 49-yard TD scamper to provide the final 61-22 margin after the seventh Brauen PAT in eight tries.

The Pirates fumbled the ball away on the next possession at the 30 with just over two minutes to go.

1 2 3 4 F
Bluf 7 26 21 7 61
OH 8 7 0 7 22

Notes and stats
The 61 points the Pirates scored was their second-highest output of the season. They tallied 63 in a week three, 56-point win over Defiance Ayersville. It was the fifth game this season Bluffton scored over 50 points.

Bluffton racked up 529 yards in total offense on 46 plays for a whopping 11.5 yard average per play. The Green Bears rolled up 401 yards on 54 snaps (7.4 avg.).

The Pirates rolled up 373 rushing yards on 38 carries (9.8 avg.) and passed for 156 more yards.
The big-play Pirates amassed 22 first downs, while the Bears moved the chains 15 times.
Worcester netted a season-high 161 yards on 17 rushes. He fell just one six-pointer shy of the school record of seven TDs in a game.

Giesige completed six of eight passes for 156 yards and one TD. He also rushed for 66 yards on seven carries, with a long run of 26.

Lovell aided the ground game with 79 yards rushing on eight carries, with one TD. He surpassed the 1,000-yard barrier for the season with his output vs. OH.

Bricker added 35 yards on two runs with one score. He added a 51-yard reception.

Stackhouse pulled in four receptions for 64 yards and one TD. He netted 32 yards rushing on four carries.

Miller completed 18 of 31 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Worcester led the defense with eight assisted tackles. Jackson Bowlus led with three solo tackles.

Bricker contributed two solo stops and five assists. Xavier Diller made five assisted stops.

Gabe Meza had a sack. Kruse was in on five assists and made one solo stop.

The Pirates committed just one penalty for no yards, while OH was flagged four times for 20 yards.

Bluffton was successful on four of six third down tries, and went 1-2 on fourth down.

Meanwhile, the Bears converted three of nine third down attempts, and they also went 0-2 on fourth.

The Pirates committed a turnover on a fumbles. OH lost two fumbles.

The Pirates have won 24 of their past 27 games. All three losses came to league rival Columbus Grove. Bluffton has gone 6-1 in the playoffs over the past two post-seasons.