When: Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.
Where: Bluffton, Ohio – Salzman Stadium
On the Radio: Listen live to Bluffton University football on WDOH 107.1 FM.
The Bluffton University football team opens Heartland Conference action against perennial-power Mt. St. Joseph in Salzman Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4. As part of the 2008 Homecoming festivities, the Beavers are set to square off against an undefeated Lions squad that dominated Rose-Hulman in HCAC action a week ago.
Head Coach Tyson Veidt made his debut on the Bluffton sidelines four weeks ago in the Beavers’ 2008 opener at Alma College. Despite taking over the reins just eight short months ago, Veidt and his staff at Bluffton currently have 53 first-year players on the squad. Veidt comes to Bluffton after assistant coaching stints at West Virginia and Indiana. Most recently he was the defensive coordinator for Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. New additions to the Bluffton coaching staff are Chris Krieg, Bo White, Jason Diller and Brian Hefner. Returning to the Beavers are Denny Phillips, Lou Stokes, Bryan Lloyd and Bill Fisher.
Rod Huber begins his ninth season as the Lions’ head coach for the College’s 19th football season. Huber led the program to a third straight HCAC championship in 2006, as the Lions went 7-0 in conference play. The Mount became the first team in HCAC history to record three straight conference titles from 2004-06. Huber is a two-time HCAC Coach of the Year and has the most wins of any Mount football coach in program history.
Bluffton and Mt. St. Joseph will lock horns for the 18th time in the history of the two schools on Saturday, Oct. 4. The Mount holds an 11-6 advantage in the series which dates back to 1991. The Beavers won five straight from 1997-2001, but the Lions have won the last six meetings, including a 28-0 shutout in Salzman Stadium a year ago.
The Bluffton University football team literally picked off its first victory of the 2008 campaign over Kalamazoo College, 23-15, on Saturday, September 27, 2008. The Beavers came up with four interceptions while slowing the pass-happy Hornets in the home opener. With the victory, Bluffton improved to 1-2 while Kalamazoo fell to 1-3 on the season.
Bluffton struck first thanks to a field goal from Jonathan Thompson with 3:38 left in the first quarter. The Beavers took over just 16 seconds later when freshman Alex Paul picked up Bluffton’s second interception of the period. On the ensuing drive, quarterback Brock Miller found Dan Chipka for 16 yards and the first offensive touchdown of the year for the Beavers. Thompson cashed in the extra point as Bluffton ended the first quarter with a 10-0 lead.
A 58-yard kickoff return by senior Drew Lovelace to open the second half gave Bluffton the ball at the Kalamazoo 22-yard line. A 13-yard Jason Johnson rush made it first-and-goal at the nine. Although the Hornets stood strong in the red zone, Thompson’s 24-yard field goal made the score 16-7 less than three minutes into the quarter.
With freshman Jason Johnson churning up yardage and breaking tackles throughout the second half, the Beavers opened up a 23-7 lead when Joshua Tanner recovered a Bluffton fumble in the end zone with 10 minutes to play in the contest.
Bluffton used a balanced attack in putting up 376 yards of total offense. The Beavers gained 182 yards on 48 rushes while limiting Kalamazoo to just 115 yards on the ground. The home team threw for 194 yards including a 13-of-29 performance by junior Brock Miller that netted 155 yards. Sophomore Ben Ilnicki completed one pass for 39 yards to Drew Lovelace late in the third stanza. Bluffton controlled the clock to the tune of 40 minutes for the Beavers and just 20 minutes for the Hornets.
Johnson went for 100 yards on 22 carries with a long run of 23 yards. Zac Lauck tallied 42 yards as Bluffton’s starter in the backfield. Lovelace proved to be the difference-maker on both offense and special teams. He caught five balls for 109 yards and returned two kicks 78 yards, including his 58-yarder to open the second half. Dan Chipka, Joel Sienicki and Antwane Miller all caught two passes in the victory. Thompson was 3-of-4 on field goals and he just missed wide-right from 46 yards out with 4:36 to play in the game.
Rose-Hulman 27, Mt. St. Joseph 21
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology knocked off a Mount St. Joseph squad that has qualified for the NCAA Division III National Playoffs for four consecutive years by a 27-21 count in the Heartland Conference football opener on Saturday.
The victory was Rose-Hulman's first win over Mount St. Joseph in seven tries and was the first Engineer victory in a league opener since the 2003 season.
Junior Calvin Bueltel led the offensive effort with a career-high 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Derek Eitel finished 14-22 through the air for 178 yards and one touchdown to balance the attack.
The Engineers dominated the statistics against a Mount St. Joseph team that had allowed just seven points in their first two games. Rose-Hulman held the ball for more than 40 minutes of the game and outgained the Lions by a 405-268 margin in the contest.
Defensively, senior Paul Spreen had seven tackles and one fumble recovery, and junior Kyle Stevens also tallied seven tackles to lead the defensive effort.
Jason Johnson has 100 yards on the ground to lead the Bluffton rushing attack. Greg Mason, who missed the Kalamazoo contest with an injury, is second on the team with 59 yards rushing on 31 carries. On the outside, Drew Lovelace leads the Beavers with 112 yards receiving on six receptions. Dan Chipka, who scored Bluffton’s first offensive touchdown of the year on Saturday, has five catches for 73 yards. Junior quarterback Brock Miller is 35-of-78 for 319 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
Freshman Steven Sealscott has a team-high 17 stops through the first three games with a breakup and a TFL. Senior Kyle Rode has 2.5 TFL’s while junior Jordan Achterman leads Bluffton with 4 TFL’s for a loss of 21 yards and two breakups. Sophomore Mitch Dunlap has two picks and seven tackles on the season.
Bluffton will travel to 2007 HCAC champion Franklin on Saturday, Oct. 11 for a clash with the Grizzlies. Kickoff at Red Faught Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Mt. St. Joseph hosts Anderson University on Sat., Oct. 11, at 1:30 p.m.
