By RYAN WALKER
For the second week in a row, Bluffton has shown its growth on the football field with a 56-14 rout over Manchester Friday night.
The blowout victory and last week’s 47-6 win at Northfield has the Tigers at 2-0 heading into conference play. Last year, the team was 1-1 at this point and had lost the season opener at home against the Norseman 19-0. This year, the team has outscored its opponents 103-20.
The win also has a special meaning for head coach Brent Kunkel, who won his 41st game as the head of the program, tying Ray Modlin for the school’s all-time leader. The coach, of course, gave credit to the players, coaching staff, and community for the accomplishment.
“I mean, it’s great. I’d rather be on this end of it than the other end for most losses,” Kunkel laughed. “But it’s a credit to our kids first and foremost. From day one, these kids have bought in. We’ve flipped the culture of our program and I say ‘we’ because I’m just a guy. It starts with our players 100 percent first and then its assistant coaches.”
It didn’t take the Tigers long to get on the board, nor did it take them long to continue to score. Within the first three minutes of the game, quarterback Braxton Betancourt connected for the first of his four total touchdowns. This one went deep in the endzone for a 28-yard score to AJ Streveler for six.
After Manchester fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return, Betancourt tossed the ball for a forward pass on a sweep to Streveler, which counted as a pass and reception, and took it 35 yards to the house.
Manchester was able to punch back on its first real possession of the game, converting a third down throw by Logan Eastgate that was out over the hands of an outstretched Tigers’ defensive back. The pass was hauled in by Eli Metzger, who broke out in stride for a 67-yard score.
Even with the first two scores happening in the first few minutes of the game, Kunkel wasn’t thrilled with the way his team started the game, especially after the deep throw.
The team had an inconsistent practice schedule this week, as most schools did with the heat. One practice was indoors. Another was held at 5 a.m. on Thursday to get reps in before the temperature got too hot. Those factors possibly contributing to the slow start, according to Kunkel.
“If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t love our start — I thought we were a little bit flat,” Kunkel said after the game. “We come out, and we score three plays into the game — I get it, and get the turnover for a score, but we’re kind of walking around, we missed some blocks early on up front, and I want to come out, and I want to be full speed, full go, pedal to the floor, and I didn’t feel like we were there.”
Fear not, the Tigers continued to pounce on the scoreboard.
On a second down play, Betancourt used his legs to scramble up out of the pocket, fleeing from multiple Squire defenders and sneaking into the end zone for 8 yards. He then followed it up on the next drive with a 19-yard dime to Andrew Hunt.
Betancourt, now a senior with a year’s worth of experience behind center, threw for three touchdowns in the air and ran for one in the first half. The quarterback couldn’t feel any better.
“I’m on cloud nine right now,” Betancourt said after the game. “There’s nothing — I can’t believe that I’m here right now in senior year. Three in the air and one rushing. I’m glad that I’ve got a team in front of me and behind me that can back me up and support me all the way through.”
“He put the ball on kids … he did a good job executing,” Kunkel said of his quarterback. “I think there was one play that I told him that was the wrong read, but he is making the good reads, he’s putting the ball there, he’s efficient. If he can do that and he can be that efficient, we can be real dangerous.”
The Tigers rounded out the first half scoring with rushing touchdowns by Cooper Craig and Ben Ramseyer, getting a running clock for the rest of the game after a 42-7 halftime lead.
In the second half, Bluffton got two more scores, one by backup freshmen quarterback Axton Beste, who connected with Coleson Teeple for 52 yards. Toward the end of the game, Manchester drove the ball down near the red zone, but an Eastgate pass was intercepted by Alex Meching at the 8-yard line and returned it all the way for a 92-yard pick-six.
Next week, the Tigers get to host their first ACAC game of the year against South Adams, who beat them last year after Bluffton nearly had a come back on the Starfires’ own field. For Kunkel, a win next week to break the record wouldn’t be all that bad against the conference rival.
“Nothing would be sweeter but to break it next week at home against South Adams,” Kunkel said. “That’s a team that’s had our number for six years. I love (head coach) Grant Moser; he’s a good friend of mine, but I’m tired of losing to ‘em’.”
sports@news-banner.com
BLUFFTON 56, MANCHESTER 14
at Bluffton High School
Manchester 7 0 7 0 — 14
Bluffton 21 21 0 14 — 56
First Quarter
B— Braxton Betancourt 28-yard pass to AJ Streveler (Yaroslav Serdiuk kick), 9:52
B— Betancourt 35-yard pass to Streveler (Serdiuk kick), 8:26
M— Logan Eastgate 67-yard pass to Eli Metzger (Wyatt Young kick), 6:20
B— Betancourt 8-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 1:11
Second Quarter
B— Betancourt 19-yard pass to Andrew Hunt (Serdiuk kick), 9:32
B— Cooper Craig 6-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 7:33
B— Ben Ramseyer 9-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 4:04
Third Quarter
M— Eastgate 22-yard pass to Colten Nelson (Young kick), 4:04
Fourth Quarter
B— Axton Beste 52-yard pass to Coleson Teeple (Yaroslav Serdiuk kick), 7:58
B— Eastgate pass intercepted by Alex Meching for 92-yards (Serdiuk kick), 3:09.
Team Statistics
MAN BLU
First Downs 10 14
Rushes-Yards 3-32 25-142
Passing (C-A-I) 5-11-1 6-7-0
Passing Yards 122 183
Penalties-Yards 4-32 9-72
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Punts-Average 1-13 0-0
Time of Possession 29:20 18:40
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Manchester: Peyton Duffy 6-27, Mason Rooney 9-24, Reiss Gaerte 6-14, Eli Metzger 1-9, Logan Eastgate 7-(-9), Wyatt Young 1-(-33). Bluffton: Ben Ramseyer 12-78, Cooper Craig 6-35, Axton Beste 2-15, Braxton Betancourt 3-12, Tucker Jenkins 1-5.
Passing: Manchester: Eastgate 5-11-1 122. Bluffton: Betancourt 5-6-0 131, Axton Beste 1-1-0 52
Receiving: Manchester: Metzger 2-73, Colten Nelson 2-30, Bryan Fields 1-19. Bluffton: Andrew Hunt 3-68, AJ Streveler 2-63, Coleson Teeple 1-52.
