By Colton Steiner, sports information assistant 

The Bluffton University football team opened up the 2017 campaign on the road against the College of Wooster. This was only the second time that these schools faced each other with the Fighting Scots taking the first game back in 1931 by a 12-0 margin. Wooster took advantage of the red zone and Beaver turnovers as they marched to a 45-21 win over Bluffton. 

The Scots were able to get on the board first after Trevor Bowden hit a 26-yard FG to put Wooster up 3-0 to start the contest. Wooster would score off a 22-yard touchdown pass to go up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. 

Senior QB Colby Speice (Paulding/Wayne Trace) was quick off his feet and scrambled into the end zone from 15-yards out to get the Beavers' first score of the season. With 5:40 to go in the second quarter, the Scots drove down the field and scored to make it a double-digit ballgame, 17-7.

This wouldn’t stop the Beavers as Speice hit Lucas Espitia (Lincoln Park, Mich./Lincoln Park) from 17-yards out to give visitors a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion by Brandon Koch (West Harrison, Ind./East Central) made the score 17-15 in favor of Wooster heading into the break. 

Bluffton took advantage of the momentum as the visitors went up 21-17 when Speice connected with Keyon Camden (Wayne/Elmwood) for a 38-yard touchdown pass. Things would quickly start to turn the other way as the Beavers allowed the Scots to score 28 unanswered points, coughing the ball up three times on pickoffs following the Camden score to drop to 0-1 to start the season. 

Despite a strong first stanza for Speice, the senior struggled for a majority of the second half as he went 29-of-45 for 328 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Senior Micah Roberson (Ada) hauled in 12 receptions for 120 yards to set a new school record for career receiving yards with 2,787, breaking the mark of 2,677 held by Eric Metz. Camden tacked on six catches of his own for 98 yards and a score while Drake Campbell (Trenton/Edgewood) led the Beavers with 10 rushes for 50 yards on the afternoon. 

On the other side of the ball, Doniven Clark  (Toledo/Bowsher) paced Bluffton with 10 tackles.  Isaac Zickafoose (Middlebury, Ind./Northridge) caused havoc in the backfield as the junior tallied nine tackles with two sacks, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Giovanni Spadaro (Macedonia/Nordonia) added six tackles and an interception. 

Bluffton will look to put this game in their rearview mirror as they prepare to face Trine University in their home opener on Saturday. The Beavers defeated the Thunder last season on the road in an intense 37-31 victory that wasn't decided until the final play of the game and they will look to do the same next week with a kickoff set for 1:30 p.m.