The Bluffton University football team was better than rival Defiance in all three phases of the game as the Beavers retained 'The Hammer' with a convincing 30-12 win on a frigid Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. Bluffton improved to 4-6 and 3-4 in the Heartland Conference thanks to wins over Manchester and Defiance the last two weeks. The Yellow Jackets saw their season come to an end with a 1-9 mark (1-6 HCAC).

Freshman Blake Rine (Heath/Granville) connected with sophomore quarterback-turned-receiver Ethan Beringer (Findlay/Carey) on a beautiful 26-yard scoring toss at the 6:29 mark of the first quarter. Junior Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) hit the first of his three field goals on the day from 22 yards out for a 10-0 lead early in the second stanza. A pair of Defiance field goals made it 10-6 before Rine hit Beringer from 29 yards out with just 19 ticks left in the first half as Bluffton took a 17-6 lead at the break.

Two Baumgartner chip shots in the third quarter pushed the spread to 23-6 and then senior Keith Holmes Jr. (Toledo/St. Francis DeSales) put an exclamation point on the finale with a 23-yard pick six that made the score 30-6 at the 7:53 mark of the fourth quarter! Defiance found the end zone for its only touchdown with 3:15 to play, making the final score 30-12 in favor of the good guys.

Senior Stephan Kosakowski (Cleveland/Benedictine) went out with a bang in his final game for the Beavers. He finished with seven tackles, including a TFL for eight yards, a pickoff that he took back 20 yards and two breakups! Louden Saulbeamer (Dayton, Ohio/Troy Christian) also stuffed the Jackets with seven tackles. Holmes Jr. and Deion Mensah (Leesburg, Fla.) both had interceptions and sophomore Nick Perry (Northwood/Lake) chipped in with six stops.

Rine completed 14-of-25 for 171 yards and two scores. Beringer caught four balls for 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Zane Dine (Marion/Pleasant) chipped in two receptions totaling 40 yards. Kainan Stoner (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) and Todd King Jr. (Springfield) rushed for 44 and 31 yards, respectively. Baumgartner was a perfect 3-of-3 on field goals and 3-of-3 on PAT's for 12 points on the day.

Bluffton outgained the home team 270-201, including 171-64 through the air. The Beavers were 7-of-15 on third down opportunities and 1-of-1 on fourth down while holding the DC offense to just 3-of-13 third down conversions.

With 17 games in the books for Bluffton during the calendar year 2021, next up are the All-Heartland Conference awards which are slated to be announced on Thursday, Nov. 18.