By Bryan Kress
The 2012 Bluffton football season started with a broken record and an impressive showing on the ground. Bluffton racked up 270 yards rushing and even more importantly, limited Cory-Rawson to only 134 yards of total offense on their turf.
With a convincing 30-0 showing in the first game of the season on the road, Bluffton seems poised to be a tough match-up this upcoming year.
Bluffton first score came midway through the 1st quarter as Matt Deter booted a 43-yard field goal. The field goal put Deter into the Bluffton record books as the previous record of 42 yards fell and put Bluffton up 3-0. Deter also hit on 3 extra points on the night.
Scoring was scarce in the 1st half but defense was not as the Pirate defense stopped a 13-play opening drive on downs and Dylan Alt's 2nd quarter interception sealed Cory Rawson's scoring attempts in the 1st half.
The Pirates came out strong in the 2nd half with a 26-yard touchdown run by quarterback Robbie Stratton to put the Pirates up 10-0, but an interception thrown by Stratton on their next drive would finish the scoring in the 3rd for Bluffton.
Bluffton's running game would finally heat up in the 4th quarter as the Pirates dominated the ground with another Robbie Stratton touchdown run, this time from 1-yard out to put the score at 16-0.
Zach Wilson would add a 16-yard touchdown carry to pat the lead at 23-0. Wilson had a solid game rushing with 63 yards on 8 carries on the night.
Josh Bracy made the most of his single carry of the night as he sprinted to a 50-yard touchdown to cap the game off at 30-0.
The defense would do the rest as the Pirate defense would force 3 straight Cory Rawson turnovers in the 4th quarter, 2 on downs and a fumble recovery by Drake Luginbuhl capped the shutout for the Pirates.
Defensively Bluffton gave up only 134 yards and opening up the season with a shutout will give any coach confidence in their defense. If the Pirates can show that type of effort defensively every Friday they can be a strong contender for a playoff berth.
Stratton had a very solid game running the ball along with the 2 touchdowns rushing he totaled 108 yards on the ground. Passing was a different story as Stratton hit on only 4 of 15 passes and with 2 interceptions.
Stratton is a young quarterback but has a few varsity games under his belt and needs to do a better job with his throws. Hopefully Stratton can find some rhythm with his receivers because if he does this team can be dangerous moving forward.
Bluffton opens up at home Friday verse Carey (0-1) who Bluffton beat last year on the road in one of the most exciting games of the 2011 season.