By Cort Reynolds
The Bluffton High School football team defeated visiting local rival Pandora-Gilboa 28-21 Friday night in a non-league battle at Harmon Field.
The hard-fought win lifted the Pirate record to 2-0, while P-G dropped to 1-1 with the loss.
Just 15 seconds into the game, Bluffton struck paydirt.
Garret Bogart connected with Braeden Jordan on a short pass to the right. Jordan broke a tackle around the 35-yard line and sprinted untouched the rest of the way 67 yards to the end zone.
Inside the Pirate five, P-G’s Ben Burkholder ran left for three yards and was stuck hard by Jordan at the goal line. The big hit jarred the ball loose, but the runner was ruled to have just crossed the plane to score and tie it 7-7.
Gavin Bogart then picked off a pass deep in Pirate territory and returned it near midfield before being hit and fumbling the ball back to P-G and Burkholder.
In the second period Pirate running back Landen Worcester authored a long TD run. He eluded one Rocket, broke a tackle, bounced to the right sideline and outraced the defense 58 yards to paydirt.
But P-G completed an 18-yard TD pass to tie it 14-14 at the half.
Gavin Bogart caught a seven-yard TD pass from Garret Bogart in the third period to take a 21-14 lead.
The Rockets tied it back up 21-21 on a one-yard scoring plunge in the fourth period.
But Worcester untied it with the eventual winning 10-yard TD run. Kyle Basil booted his fourth point after kick to provide the final margin of victory.
Worcester netted 154 yards rushing on 20 carries with a pair of TDs. Garret Bogart completed seven of 10 passes for 130 yards and two TDs. He also rushed seven times for 44 yards.
Jordan caught three passes for 98 yards and one TD. Gavin Bogart caught two aerials for 18 yards and one score.
Noah Bricker added 21 yards on two rushes.
P-G amassed 377 total yards on 75 plays. Bluffton netted 350 yards on 29 less plays.
The Pirates passed for 130 yards and rushed for 220. The Rockets totaled 333 yards aerially on 34 of 51 passing attempts. Pandora rushed 16 times for 44 yards.
P-G racked up 25 first downs, while Bluffton amassed 14 first downs.
The Rockets converted six of 13 third down tries while Bluffton was three for eight.
Bluffton took advantage of four turnovers. The Pirates were penalized four times for 23 yards, while P-G was flagged nine times for 64 yards.
Carson Kruse led the defense with 14 tackles. Worcester contributed 12 stops and two tackles for loss. Garret Bogart added 11 tackles.
1 2 3 4 F
Blu 7 7 7 7 28
P-G 7 7 0 7 21
Bluffton plays its first road game of the season at Defiance Ayersville (2-0) September 1. The Pilots beat Delta 27-7 in week one and defeated Delphos Jefferson 42-26, both on the road.
