The Bluffton University men's soccer team scored early and often in a 5-1 defeat of visiting Emory and Henry team on a beautiful Monday, Sept. 6, 2021.
Sophomore Elijah Zimmerman (Archbold) collected a feed from senior Jacob Kiger (Groveport/St. Charles Prep) just over a minute into the contest and put the home team on top. Dalton Taynor (Troy/Miami East) made it 2-0 midway through the first half before Britton Boyle (MIddletown) notched his first collegiate tally following a ricochet off the crossbar from Brandon DeCoursey (Bruceville, IN/North Knox) in minute 42.
The Bluffton cross country teams competed at the Columbus Grove Invitational Saturday morning, September 4.
BOYS COMPETITION
Botkins won the boys 18-team Red Division team title with 48 points. Lincolnview was second (69), followed by Bluffton in a solid third-place showing (155).
Junior Landon Armstrong posted the top Pirate finish. He came in fifth among 104 runners in 17 minutes.
Bluffton junior Sam Derstine finished 25th, and senior Trey Boblitt ended up 30th. Rounding out the Pirate scorers were Jonah Rehm (44th) and John Yoder (51st).
The Bluffton University volleyball team rebounded from a Saturday morning sweep at the hands of Ohio Wesleyan by slicing through Trine in four sets in the afternoon. Bluffton improved to 2-2 on the season with the September 4 split.
Ohio Wesleyan was too much, rolling to a sweep of the Beavers thanks to scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-21. Senior Cassidy Posey (Paulding) led the home squad with 10 kills and three blocks. Junior Maddie White (Ashland) doled out 16 assists, while Kia Rainey (Adrian, MI/Madison) picked up eight digs against the Battling Bishops.
The Bluffton University football team made the long trip to Alma College for the 2021 season opener on Saturday, September 4. Four interceptions and a fumble paved the way for a 24-6 Alma victory as the Beavers were back on the field just over four months after wrapping up their 2020-21 campaign.
In its first road game of the season, Bluffton raced to a big lead and held off Defiance Ayersville 25-13 in a Friday night, September 3, non-league battle.
The victory upped the Bluffton record to 3-0, while Ayersville dropped to 2-1 after the loss. The Pilots entered the game rated first in the Div. VII, Region 26 rankings.
Bluffton scored the first 25 points of the contest before Ayersville got on the board with a touchdown in each of the final two periods. But it was too little, too late.
