The Bluffton University football team rallied in the second half but turnovers proved to be the difference as Kalamazoo scored a 39-14 win over the Beavers on a hot and humid Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Bluffton starts the season 0-1, while the Hornets head into week two at 1-0.

Two turnovers by the home team in the first four minutes of the game set up a pair of Dimeko Price touchdowns for the Hornets. K-zoo jumped on top 12-0 at the 9:03 mark of the first quarter when Price went in from six yards out.

The Bluffton offense moved the chains three times early in period two before the visitors came up big at their own 30-yard line on a fourth-and-four. Shawn Frost (Edison/Mt. Gilead) hauled in a 29-yard pass from Chris Byrd (Detroit, Mich./Detroit University Prep) and Airic Steagall (Hillsboro rambled for 11 and 18-yard gains before the offense bogged down.

The Hornets put together a 10-play, 67-yard scoring drive to open the second half, making the score 19-0. Quarterback Nick Jones capped it off with a five-yard run to the end zone. Two possessions later, Jones found Jimmy Frye for a 53-yard hookup and 26-0 advantage with less than three minutes to play in the period.

Byrd answered the call with a 54-yard bomb to Jason A. Johnson (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Eastern) down the right sideline with 54 ticks remaining in the third quarter, breathing life back into the Gameday crowd. Three minutes later Byrd found a seem and went 15 yards to the house, pulling the Beavers within two scores at 26-14.

With the momentum clearly on the side of the home team, Bluffton held the Hornets to a quick three-and-out, however, a five-yard penalty on the punt gave Kalamazoo new life.

K-zoo took advantage, going 50 yards over the next eight plays to make the score 33-14 when Jones went in from eight yards out. Price capped the scoring with a 32-yard touchdown, his third of the afternoon, for a final margin of 39-14.

Steagall went for 66 yards on 22 carries, while Byrd chipped in with 10 carries for 50 yards and a score. The senior signal-caller connected on 8-of-21 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Jason A. Johnson finished with four catches for 88 yards and a TD. Frost hauled in three balls for 56 yards.

Jerry Stone (Cardington/Cardington-Lincoln) led the Beaver defense with eight tackles, including 1.5 for a loss. Linebackers Jake Luthy (Ida, Mich./Ida), Shane Hubbard (Johnstown/Big Walnut) and Joe Maldonado (Dade City, Fla./Zephyrhills) all tallied six stops each.

Bluffton out-gained the Hornets 185 yards to 146 yards on the ground, while K-zoo had a 256-173 advantage through the air. Kalamazoo finished with 378 yards of total offense, compared to 326 for the home team. The visitors were 4-of-4 on red zone chances and the Beavers converted on 2-of-5 fourth downs.

The Beavers return to action when they travel to defending MIAA champion Trine University. The contest at Angola, Ind. is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Scoring Summary (Final)
2011 Bluffton University Football
Kalamazoo College vs Bluffton University (09-03-11 at Bluffton, Ohio)

Kalamazoo College (1-0) vs. Bluffton University (0-1)

Date: 09-03-11 o Site: Bluffton, Ohio o Stadium: Salzman Stadium o Attendance: 2000

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Kalamazoo College 12 0 14 13 39
Bluffton University 0 0 7 7 14

SCORING SUMMARY KZOO -BLUFFTON
1st 12:38 KZOO Dimeko Price 2 yd run (TEAM rush fumbld)
4 plays, 20 yards, TOP 1:27 6 - 0
09:03 KZOO Dimeko Price 6 yd run (Dimeko Price rush failed)
5 plays, 37 yards, TOP 2:09 12 - 0
3rd 11:18 KZOO Nick Jones 5 yd run (Travis Braun kick)
10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:34 19 - 0
03:10 KZOO Jimmy Frye 53 yd pass from Nick Jones (Travis Braun kick)
2 plays, 58 yards, TOP 0:37 26 - 0
00:54 BLUFFTON Johnson, J.A. 54 yd pass from Byrd, C. (Sweeney, A. kick)
8 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:03 26 - 7
4th 12:19 BLUFFTON Byrd, C. 15 yd run (Sweeney, A. kick)
5 plays, 57 yards, TOP 1:20 26 - 14
07:02 KZOO Nick Jones 8 yd run (Travis Braun kick)
11 plays, 61 yards, TOP 5:09 33 - 14
03:31 KZOO Dimeko Price 32 yd run (Travis Braun kick failed)
3 plays, 38 yards, TOP 1:38 39 - 14

Kickoff time: 2 PM o End of Game: 4:50 o Total elapsed time: 2:50
Referee: Furnish o Umpire: Scifres o Linesman: Bullock o Line judge: Effner o Back judge: Bushee o Field judge: Toth o Side judge: Cherry o
Temperature: 95 o Wind: o Weather:

Team Statistics

Team Statistics (Final)
2011 Bluffton University Football
Kalamazoo College vs Bluffton University (09-03-11 at Bluffton, Ohio)

Team Totals KZOO BLUFFTON
FIRST DOWNS 20 16
Rushing 6 10
Passing 12 6
Penalty 2 0
NET YARDS RUSHING 122 153
Rushing Attempts 42 42
Average Per Rush 2.9 3.6
Rushing Touchdowns 5 1
Yards Gained Rushing 146 185
Yards Lost Rushing 24 32
NET YARDS PASSING 256 173
Completions-Attempts-Int 19-30-0 10-26-3
Average Per Attempt 8.5 6.7
Average Per Completion 13.5 17.3
Passing Touchdowns 1 1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 378 326
Total offense plays 72 68
Average Gain Per Play 5.2 4.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards 6-60 8-64
PUNTS-YARDS 6-240 3-104
Average Yards Per Punt 40.0 34.7
Net Yards Per Punt 36.7 34.7
Inside 20 2 1
50+ Yards 1 0
Touchbacks 0 0
Fair catch 3 2
KICKOFFS-YARDS 7-402 3-178
Average Yards Per Kickoff 57.4 59.3
Net Yards Per Kickoff 32.7 36.7
Touchbacks 0 0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 0-0-0 2-20-0
Average Per Return 0.0 10.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 3-68-0 7-173-0
Average Per Return 22.7 24.7
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 3-28-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 32:41 27:19
1st Quarter 6:18 8:42
2nd Quarter 7:32 7:28
3rd Quarter 8:30 6:30
4th Quarter 10:21 4:39
Third-Down Conversions 9 of 17 4 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 0 2 of 5
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 4-4 1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards 2-13 0-0
PAT Kicks 3-4 2-2
Field Goals 0-0 0-0

Individual Statistics

Individual Statistics (Final)
2011 Bluffton University Football
Kalamazoo College vs Bluffton University (09-03-11 at Bluffton, Ohio)

Kalamazoo College

Bluffton University

RUSHING No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg.
Dimeko Price 21 91 2 89 3 32 4.2
Nick Jones 11 42 3 39 2 9 3.5
Colin Leffert 3 7 0 7 0 3 2.3
Dan Grost 2 2 1 1 0 2 0.5
Erran Briggs 3 4 4 0 0 4 0.0
Aaron McGuire 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1.0
TEAM 1 0 13 -13 0 0 -13.0
Totals... 42 146 24 122 5 32 2.9

RUSHING No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg.
Steagall, A. 22 85 19 66 0 18 3.0
Byrd, C. 10 63 13 50 1 23 5.0
Wright, T. 9 32 0 32 0 12 3.6
Sewell, C.J. 1 5 0 5 0 5 5.0
Totals... 42 185 32 153 1 23 3.6

PASSING Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
Nick Jones 19-30-0 256 1 53 0
Totals... 19-30-0 256 1 53 0

PASSING Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
Byrd, C. 8-21-2 141 1 54 2
Wright, T. 2-5-1 32 0 23 0
Totals... 10-26-3 173 1 54 2

RECEIVING No. Yds TD Lg
Jimmy Frye 7 128 1 53
Mikael Lott 4 23 0 9
Colin Leffert 3 42 0 19
Jon Vigi 2 27 0 19
Dimeko Price 2 21 0 17
Alex Dietrich 1 15 0 15
Totals... 19 256 1 53

RECEIVING No. Yds TD Lg
Johnson, J.A. 4 88 1 54
Frost, S. 3 56 0 29
Trotter, T. 2 15 0 11
Steagall, A. 1 14 0 14
Totals... 10 173 1 54

PUNTING No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
Gray Vreeland 6 240 40.0 54 2 0
Totals... 6 240 40.0 54 2 0

PUNTING No. Yds Avg Long In20 TB
Underwood, H. 3 104 34.7 44 1 0
Totals... 3 104 34.7 44 1 0

Punts Kickoffs Intercept
ALL RETURNS No Yds Lg No Yds Lg No Yds Lg
Mikael Lott 0 0 0 1 19 19 0 0 0
Dimeko Price 0 0 0 2 49 27 0 0 0
John Heitchue 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 8
Jake Gallimore 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Jake Schell 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 20 20
Totals... 0 0 0 3 68 27 3 28 20

Punts Kickoffs Intercept
ALL RETURNS No Yds Lg No Yds Lg No Yds Lg
Frost, S. 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Trotter, T. 0 0 0 7 173 48 0 0 0
Swisher, S. 1 19 19 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals... 2 20 19 7 173 48 0 0 0

ALL PURPOSE Rush Rcv KR PR IR Total
Dimeko Price 89 21 49 0 0 159
Jimmy Frye 0 128 0 0 0 128
Colin Leffert 7 42 0 0 0 49
Mikael Lott 0 23 19 0 0 42
Nick Jones 39 0 0 0 0 39
Jon Vigi 0 27 0 0 0 27
Jake Schell 0 0 0 0 20 20
Alex Dietrich 0 15 0 0 0 15
John Heitchue 0 0 0 0 8 8
Dan Grost 1 0 0 0 0 1
Aaron McGuire -1 0 0 0 0 -1
TEAM -13 0 0 0 0 -13
Totals... 122 256 68 0 28 474

ALL PURPOSE Rush Rcv KR PR IR Total
Trotter, T. 0 15 173 0 0 188
Johnson, J.A. 0 88 0 0 0 88
Steagall, A. 66 14 0 0 0 80
Frost, S. 0 56 0 1 0 57
Byrd, C. 50 0 0 0 0 50
Wright, T. 32 0 0 0 0 32
Swisher, S. 0 0 0 19 0 19
Sewell, C.J. 5 0 0 0 0 5
Totals... 153 173 173 20 0 519

FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS

FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS

KICKOFFS No. Yds TB OB Avg.
Travis Braun 7 402 0 0 57.4

KICKOFFS No. Yds TB OB Avg.
Sweeney, A. 3 178 0 0 59.3

FUMBLES: Kalamazoo College-None. Bluffton University-Steagall, A. 1-1; Trotter, T. 1-0.