By Bryan Kress
With a promising start to the season that included a 3-2 record and a near upset of Ada, Bluffton would only finish with a 5-5 record.
Season stats and game stats are in attachments at the bottom of this story.
However when you consider that a freshman quarterback played in the final 5 games of the season, the .500 record sure seems like a significant accomplishment and the future prospects for this team look much brighter with quarterback Robbie Stratton getting invaluable experience.
Friday night was much less bright, as Bluffton was handled easily by the better football team in Columbus Grove for a score of 42-14.
Bluffton was in a 20-point hole early as Columbus Grove scored on 3 straight possessions to start the game and forced a Bluffton interception on their 1st series.
Bluffton was able to score in the 2nd quarter after an 11-play drive was capped off by a Jeremy Basinger 1-yard touchdown run.
Columbus Grove would score again with 3:32 left in the 1st half to go up 28-7. Bluffton gave up 277 yards to Grove in the 1st half and were only able to produce 133 yards of their own.
Bluffton would score on the 1st possession of the 2nd half on a 42-yard touchdown run by Basinger. Basinger led Bluffton in rushing yards with 59 yards and the 2 touchdown runs.
Grove would go on to score 2 more times, both in the 4th quarter, and allow Bluffton to gain only 76 yards along with 3 turnovers.
On offense, Robbie Stratton and Hunter Joseph combined for 6 completions on 19 passes for 73 yards and 3 interceptions. Stratton was the 2nd leading rusher for Bluffton with 57 yards.
Bluffton may have ended the season on a low, but the season had many highs as well. Robbie Stratton will come into the season next year as the starter and will build upon a productive freshman year against very tough competition.
Stratton completed 56.7% of his passes for 502 yards and only 2 touchdowns, but Stratton was solid on the ground with 158 yards and 3 touchdowns. Hunter Joseph started the season at quarterback and completed 58% passes for 1423 yards and 14 touchdowns with 8 interceptions.
Keshaun Hughes led the team in rushing with 438 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 2 touchdown catches. Jeremy Basinger was 2nd on the team for 190 yards and led the team with 9 rushing touchdowns.
R.J. Stratton had a great year receiving with 47 catches for 766 yards and 8 touchdowns. Matt Gillett was 2nd in receptions with 27 and 342 yards along with 4 touchdowns. Brandon Deeds and Jacob Nienberg were both weapons in the passing game catching 19 and 22 balls respectively.
Basinger was also a force on Defense with 135 total tackles and 3 sacks. Gillett along with his 4 touchdown catches added a team high 6 interceptions. R.J. Stratton was 2nd on the team with 4 interceptions to go along with his 8 touchdowns, and 2nd highest team total with 66 total tackles. Austin Devier was the spearhead for the Bluffton D-line with a team high 4 sacks.
Matt Deter was an unsung hero this year in the kicking game. As a former soccer player, Deter hit 27 of 30 extra points, compared to 23 for 31 for opponents, and was 3 for 4 in field goals. Deter was also important in kickoffs averaging 49.5 yards.
Bluffton will collect themselves after a up-and-down season and work toward a very bright 2012 season with an experienced sophomore at quarterback along with other young and talented players.
