By RYAN WALKER
Bluffton’s football team had high hopes to do something special this season, but perhaps nobody envisioned it to reach the top of 2A in the middle of the season.
The Associated Press released its fresh Indiana high school football rankings for the week of Sept. 25, and the Tigers are No. 1.
Last week, Bluffton was at No. 2 but thanks to Brownstown’s loss to Seymour, the No. 1 seat was up for grabs. The No. 2 Tigers’ dominant 56-3 victory over Southern Wells helped the AP voters make the math easy.
Head coach Brent Kunkel, now in his seventh year with the program, took over a team that finished 2-8 in 2016 to 5-6 in year one. In 2022, he led the team to its first sectional championship since 1988.
He couldn’t help but take some time to feel the reality in the accomplishment.
“I kind of took a minute yesterday to let it soak in a minute,” Kunkel said. “Because, you know, we’ve done a lot of cool things in six-plus years, and in year seven now, not once did I ever think we’d be ranked as the best team in the state. So I think it’s okay to, like, take a second and be proud about it.”
Kunkel shared that he and coach Mettler dug into the history books to see how high they’ve been ranked over the years. The only piece of evidence they could find was at No. 5 back in 1982.
The city of Bluffton waited 34 years for a sectional champion, and finally got one last season when the Tigers took home field and defeated a dynasty program in Eastbrook. Kunkel also cited the strong Bluffton community has shown tremendous support for the boys since he got there and continues to get stronger with success.
He mentioned that even walking around the Street Fair was different this year, with people stopping to talk to him more often than before. The media, TV stations, and football fans are talking about the Tigers now.
On the flip side, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype, so Kunkel met with his players a few hours after the AP released its rankings.
The meeting included acknowledgment of the feat and a bit of a celebration.
But, believe it or not, Kunkel didn’t reference much about refocusing his team because of its senior-heavy group.
“The great thing about this team and the 17 seniors that I have is that focus was never an issue,” Kunkel said. “I would say yesterday, Tuesday — our defensive day — we were sharp like we were on our assignments. I thought we had a really, really good practice yesterday, with all the things considered. So, me having to tell them to refocus hasn’t been an issue.”
Not every poll has favored the Tigers as much as the AP has. The fairly well-known ratings by Jeff Sagarin, which is computer-based analytics that includes wins and losses, strength of schedule, top-25 and top-64 wins, has them at No. 8 in 2A.
Part of the reason for that could be due to the computer system valuing Bluffton’s schedule being the lowest of the rest of the seven so far. The game Friday night at Heritage and Adams Central could change that depending on the results and improve that number.
The concentration of the team will soon be tested in just a few days and in the coming weeks.
This Friday, Bluffton will have its first true road test against a similar Heritage (5-1) team. The Patriots are loaded with seniors, had a large margin of victory at South Adams, and their only loss is to Adams Central.
For perspective, the Sagarin ratings have them at 17th in 3A, but ahead of the Tigers in the overall rankings regardless of class (Heritage No. 95, Bluffton No. 108).
The Patriots beat the Tigers in Bluffton last year, blowing a 20-6 lead at the half.
The following week, Bluffton will face Adams Central (6-0), who hasn’t lost a regular season game since early 2021. In the regular season finale, Bluffton travels to Lakeland (5-1).
The Jets are No. 2 in 1A of the AP poll and 27th in the state in Sagarin. Lakeland is unranked in the AP and 131 in the Sagarin.
Bluffton, as the only unbeaten team left in 2A and a No. 1 ranked team, has the ultimate target on their back.
With the ACAC title and sectional looming, Kunkel wants to ramp his team up to play at its peak starting this Friday night. His senior-led group has given depth to the roster that, luckily, hasn’t been needed to go too deep into just yet.
“You want to be healthy,” Kunkel said. “So knock on wood, we’ve been healthy throughout most of this year, you know, we’ve got a couple of guys banged up, but nothing, nothing serious.”
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