By Cort Reynolds
DEFIANCE - The visiting Bluffton football team scored the final 21 points to break away from a tie and whip Defiance Ayersville 35-14 in their first road game Friday night.
The non-league contest was knotted 14-14 after an eventful first quarter.
But Bluffton held Ayersville scoreless over the last three periods, and managed to score one touchdown in each of those stanzas to win going away.
By Cort Reynolds
MT. BLANCHARD - The Bluffton boys cross country team finished a solid seventh at the 13-team Riverdale Invitational Thursday evening.
Hopewell-Loudon won with just 25 points. Van Buren was a distant second with 78 points, followed by USV in third (141). Bluffton tallied 175 points to finish just two points beind Carey.
By Cort Reynolds
ADA - Despite playing its fourth match in four nights, the visiting Bluffton volleyball team won a tough four-set match in a very steamy gym at feisty Northwest Conference rival Ada Thursday night.
The Lady Pirates prevailed 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23 to improve to 7-3 overall and 2-0 NWC after their third victory in a row. The spunky Lady Bulldogs fell to 4-6 and 0-3 in the NWC with their third consecutive loss to a tough opponent.
By Cort Reynolds
SPENCERVILLE - The Bluffton girls soccer team lost a tough Northwest Conference defensive battle at Spencerville Thursday evening, 2-0.
Defending NWC champion Spencerville scored early in the eighth minute and took a 1-0 lead to intermission.
After more than 70 minutes of scoreless play, the Bearcats then added a goal in the final minute to snap a four-match Bluffton win streak.
By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - The Bluffton volleyball team swept visiting North Baltimore in a non-conference match Wednesday night.
The Lady Pirates triumphed 25-14, 25-16, 25-13 to improve to 6-3 overall.
Kylie Stackhouse paced the victors with 14 kills and three blocks. Taylor Schwab hammered a dozen kills and served three aces. Libby Schaadt compiled seven kills and four blocks.
Setter Skyler Scoles doled out 17 assists and came up with a dozen digs. Cara Young passed up 15 assists.
Bluffton native Dan Luginbuhl, a career employee of Team Penske, was inducted into the Team Penske Hall of Fame on Sept. 9.
A 1963 Bluffton High School graduate, Luginbuhl joined the Penske organization in 1969. He was one of the pioneers of motorsports marketing and public relations. He was inducted along with Don Miller, a former Penske Racing South president. The event was at the team’s Mooresville, North Carolina, facility.
Luginbuhl's sister, Becky Cox, is a Bluffton resident.
