By Sam Brauen

The 2015 Bluffton football season is set to kickoff Friday evening and the Pirates are ready to get back into action.  

Bluffton is under the direction of Coach Kyle Cutnaw who returns for his second year at the helm of the program. 42 players dot the roster and the Pirates will compete in Division VI, Region  20. 

The team has had successful scrimmages with Arlington, Marion Local and Pandora-Gilboa in addition to winning the Liberty Benton 7 on 7 tournament earlier this summer. 

Returning starters:  Many familiar faces return for Bluffton this season.  Mitchell Ault returns at quarterback for his senior season.   The third year starter was a second team Northwest Conference selection last season. 

On the line, returners include Zach Little, Blake Sampson, Kyle Swank and Misha Groman.  Dustin Falk and Brady Basinger both saw time on the field last season at the running back position and return for their junior seasons in addition to sophomore Kaleb Jefferson. 

Sam Crisp, Dakota Bricker and Owen Bischoff all saw playing time at wide received and tight end positions in 2014 and will be relied upon for leadership this season. 

Defensively, many of the same faces dot the front line with Little, Sampson and Swank on the field.  Ault, Jefferson and Basinger are back in the linebacker corps and Bischoff, Falk, and Bricker return as Defensive Backs. 

Schedule:  The Pirate schedule appears to be back loaded with strong opponents down the stretch.  Four of the final five games are all against 2014 playoff qualifying teams with home games against Jefferson and Crestview and away contests at Spencerville and Columbus Grove. 

The Pirates will face a new foe in week three when they travel to Fort Loramie.   Home games for the year are Cory-Rawson, Van Buren, Paulding, Jefferson and Crestview while BHS will visit Fort Loramie, Allen East, Spencerville, Ada and Grove. 

One additional schedule change to note is that all Northwest Conference games will kickoff at 7 p.m.  Out of conference games kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

Staff:  The Pirate coaching staff is filled by Pat Prichard (Defense), Steve Lemley (Receivers / Defense), Jesse Herr (Running Backs / Defensive Backs), Dave Bracy (Special Teams / Offensive Line) and Kevin Burkholder (Quality Control)

Last Season:  BHS fared better than their 3-7 record would indicate.  The Pirates dropped four games in 2014 by four points or less, giving up fourth quarter leads in all matchups with Van Buren, Delphos Jefferson, Ada and Allen East. 

Graduation hit the receiving corps hard as the top three route runners have moved on in Robbie Stratton, Levi Kistler and Austin Bricker.  The Pirates outscored opponents 317-224 on the year. 

The team’s three wins came against Cory-Rawson (3-7), Western Reserve Academy (6-3) and Paulding (1-9).