By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - Visiting Allen East came back from an early 14-point deficit to defeat feisty county rival Bluffton 46-22 in a Northwest Conference battle on a pleasant Friday night at Harmon Field.
Defending league tri-champion AE improved to 2-0 (2-0 NWC East) with the come from behind victory. The Pirates fell to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in the NWC East with the defeat.
The upset-minded Pirates scored on ther first two drives to lead 14-0. But AE did not panic, and they rallied to score 33 unanswered points and take control.
Senior quarterback Tyler Clum passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more scores to pace the potent Mustang offense. Clum accounted for 341 yards of total offense.
Bluffton took the opening kickoff and drove 82 yards to score. Tyson Shutler scored on a 24-yard run, and the Nate Schaadt point after kick put the Pirates on top 7-0 early.
After stopping AE, Bluffton again struck. A 42-yard aerial sparked the scoring march. Schaadt then floated a seven-yard touchdown pass in the beack of the end zone to Landyn Fleharty.
Schaadt's second extra point boot advanced the lead to 14-0 with 4:13 still to go in the opening stanza.
The Mustangs came right back to get on the scoreboard. Senior Clum hooked up with classmate Bradden Crumrine for a 37-yard TD strike at the 2:37 mark.
On the next Mustang possession, the visitors tied it on a 63-yard, two-play drive. After a two-yard run, AE use some trickery to score.
Clum fired a lateral pass to Carter Young, and Young then launched a long pass to Crumrine, who got behind the Pirate defense for a 61-yard TD catch.
His second PAT tied it 14-14 just six seconds before the end of the high-scoring first period.
Bluffton racked up three first downs on its ensuing possession into Mustang territory. But then AE linebacker Blake Hershberger put a big hit on Fleharty and caused a fumble that the Mustangs recovered at their own 39.
Junior wideout Garrett Newland hauled in an 11-yard reception to move the chains on third down. Another Clum to Newland aerial gained 15 yards to the Pirate 15.
On fourth and three from the eight, Clum's short pass to Young gained four key yards. After a nine-yard loss set them back to the 12, Clum hooked up with Newland on a 13-yard scoring strike with 3:42 left in the half.
The extra point sailed low and wide right to keep the margin at 20-14.
Bluffton took over at its own 19 and drove methodically downfield as time ran down in the half. Schasadt converted a third down run, then hit Shutler for 10 yards.
On third and 11 Schaadt ran for seven yards. On fourth and four Bluffton gambled and went for it, and Schaadt rumbled 15 yards up the middle on a quarterback draw to the AE 41.
The Pirates advanced to the Mustang 34 with no timeouts left. As time ran out, AE was called for defensive pass interference on an incompletion.
Bluffton thus got one more chance to score on an untimed play. But Schaadt's toss into the end zone for Shutler sailed high and incomplete.
On the first drive of the third quarter, AE started at their own 38 and marched 62 yards to paydirt. The Mustangs quickly penetrated Pirate territory on consecutive passes to Gavin Maxwell.
A 15-yard pass down to the 23 was followed by a seven-yard run by Kade Wireman. On third down and three Clum's pass to the corner was incomplete. On fourth and three from the 16, Wireman muscled his way six yards to the 10.
Wireman ran right for three yards, and then Shutler made a nice tackle at the four. Clum scrambled and dove into paydirt on a four-yard TD run.
The Mustangs went for a two-point conversion but Shutler pulled down Clum for a loss to keep the margin at 26-14 with 9:20 left in the third quarter.
Schaadt connected with Jackson Wilson on a 40-yard pass to the AE 33 to ignite the next Pirate possession. A run by Malachi Pahl to the 30 was followed by an incompletion. On third and seven, a costly holding penalty moved Bluffton back for third and 21.
An 11-yard Schaadt scramble brought up fourth and 10. Speedy Shutler took a direct snap but was brought down three yards short of the first by Hershberger for a turnover on downs with 5:29 to go in the third period.
Explosive AE took over at its own 26 and drive 74 yards to score again. Newland pulled down an 11-yard reception to kick-start the march. Jacob Hershberger made a nice catch for a 25-yard gain. A nine-yard gain reached the Pirate 20.
An eight-yard pass to Hershberger set up Clum for a nine-yard TD run with 3:46 left in the third stanza. Crumrine's point after kick extended the lead to 33-14.
Speedy Shutler came in at quarterback for the cramping Schaadt and led a long scoring drive. First he completed a 17-yard pass to his brother Landon. Shutler then connected with Ethan Bogart on an 11-yard aerial to the AE 39.
Pahl gained 14 yards to the Mustang 25. Shutler ran out of bounds after gaining five yards. On second and five, he reversed field for one yard. On third and four Shutler kept the ball, cut back and scampered past the AE defense 19 yards to the end zone.
For the two-point conversion try Shutler connected on a short pass with the 6-4 Wilson to cut the deficit to 33-22 with one second to go in the quarter.
AE took the ensuing short kickoff and returned it to the 40 to start the fourth period.
Clum scrambled and found Maxwell for a 10-yard gain to midfield to open the final quarter and start their 60-yard scoring drive. A jet sweep to Young was thrown for a loss of five. On third and 15, Clum fired over the middle to Jacob Hershberger for a 15-yard gain.
On third and 12, Clum ran for 10 yards. On fourth and short Clum found Young for a first down pass. Two plays later Clum hit Young in stride in the end zone on a 22-yard TD strike with 8:31 remaining.
The PAT kick missed after a low snap to keep AE ahead 39-22.
Bluffton began the ensuing possession at their own 17 after a penalty set them back. Schaadt returned at QB and Pahl gained nine yards. The bruising Pahl then rushed 14 yards to the 40.
Mustang Blaine Belcher then picked off a pressured Schaadt aerial near midfield to stop the Pirate drive with 7:27 left.
A sliding Clum run gained seven yards. On third and two his pass was low. On fourth and short, Clum fielded a high snap and ran for just enough to move the chains.
Maxwell snared a Clum pass, but on the next play AE fumbled the ball away at the Pirate 25 with 6:07 to go.
A third down pass to Wilson on the sidelines was ruled incomplete. On fourth and five from their own 30 the Pirates went for it, but Schaadt's pass fell incomplete.
AE took over on the Bluffton 30. A holding call negated a TD pass, but a 23-yard run got the Mustangs back to the 22. Newland snagged a low throw with a sliding grab for a gain of eight to the 14.
A potential TD pass was then dropped in the end zone. But on fourth down and two, Clum scrambled and found Jacob Hershberger with a five-yard score on a jump pass.
The extra point kick by Aiden Robey was good with 1:36 left to provide the final margin of 46-22.
The Mustang 55-player roster seemed to wear down the 29-man Pirate squad.
1 2 3 4 F
Blu 14 0 8 0 22
AE 14 6 13 13 46
Notes and stats
Bluffton ran 63 plays and compiled 396 net yards. The Pirates rolled up 19 first downs compared to 26 by the Mustangs.
Potent AE ran 65 plays and amassed 446 yards in total offense. The Mustangs rushed 32 times for 94 yards, while the Pirates netted 247 yards on 43 carries.
Clum completed 23 of 32 passes for 291 yards and four TDs with no interceptions. The senior QB also ran 10 times for 50 yards and a pair of scores.
Crumrine caught six aerials for 150 yards and two TDs. Young snared five throws for 42 yards and one score, and also completed one pass for a 61-yard TD.
Hershberger pulled in four passes for 63 yards and one TD. Maxwell contributed four receptions for 39 yards. Newland added five grabs for 58 yards and one score.
Schaadt completed eight of 17 aerials for 120 yards and one score with one pickoff. Schaadt also rushed 17 times for 84 yards.
Shutler caught five passes for 69 yards. He also completed two of two passes for 29 yards and ran for a pair of TDs. Shutler netted 84 yards rushing on 10 carries and was credited with 6.5 tackles on defense.
Pahl added 74 yards on 10 tries. Wilson had one grab for 40 yards and led the defense with 8.5 tackles. Landon Shutler caught two aerials for 22 yards while Gavin Bogart had one catch for 11. Fleharty's lone reception went for seven yards and a TD.
Bluffton committed two costly turnovers. Meanwhile, AE made one turnover. Bluffton was penalized six times for 60 yards while the Mustangs were flagged five times for 45 yards.
The Pirates had the ball for 24:45 whle AE possessed it for 22:02. The Mustangs were 6-12 on third down conversions went a perfect and 5-5 on fourth down. Bluffton was 6-13 on third down and 1-4 on fourth.
AE linebacker Blake Hershberger led the Mustang defense with 16 tackles and one caused fumble.
AE has now beaten Bluffton in six of their last eight meetings. In 2018 and 2019, the Mustangs beat the Pirates 42-7 and 35-7.
Elsewhere in week two in the NWC West, Crestview whipped Paulding 38-14 as each team went to 1-1, while Spencerville (2-0) stomped winless arch-rival Delphos Jefferson 41-8.
Pirates at Ada in week 3 of NWC East
Bluffton visits local rival Ada (0-2, 0-2 NWC East) in a week three battle of teams looking for their first win.
The Bulldogs also lost to AE (41-14) and Columbus Grove (52-18) by lopsided battles in two road games to open the season. Ada trailed 41-0 and 49-6 at halftime of each game, respectively.
AE hosts Grove in a week three battle that will determine first place in the NWC East, as well as one of the top seeds in the three-week league tournament starting Sept. 18.
The Mustangs edged CG 14-11 in the NWC opener last year and rode that to a co-championship with Grove and Spencerville.
