By RYAN WALKER
MONROEVILLE — With the ultimate target on its back, the newly No. 1 Bluffton Tigers were stunned at Heritage 27-21.
Senior Patriots’ quarterback Kobe Meyer punched in his second rushing touchdown with 1:01 to go late in the fourth quarter to take the lead.
The Tigers had an opportunity from their own 30-yard line to go for the win. However, a miscue on a backward lateral trick play fumbled the ball into the hands of the Patriots, delivering the finishing blow to the Tigers.
The play call happened on the first play of the final Tigers drive with 55 seconds remaining. Bluffton’s quarterback completed the pass to AJ Streveler on a hook route near the left sideline for 10 yards. As soon as Streveler caught it, he tossed it backward to Ben Ramseyer, who was trailing right behind.
“We knew (Heritage) would bail,” Bluffton head coach Brent Kunkel said after the game. “We knew that AJ (Streveler) was a guy all night getting open. And then, you know, we thought they’d bite up on AJ. And they did.
The toss was slightly off-target to Ramseyer’s right side. He reached for the ball but only got a fingertip on it. After three Patriots and one Tiger made an attempt at the ball, Heritage’s Eli Pilon fell on the ball with possession for a turnover.
If the play had been executed, there was a nearby defender that Ramseyer would have a chance to outrun with a safety playing deep.
The lateral was by design but wasn’t a play that the Tigers had worked on much at practice, and Kunkel took the blame.
“And unfortunately, that’s not a play that we practice,” continued Kunkel. “So that’s on the head coach. I should have called a better play there that we had repped, but we thought we had an opportunity there to do something, and it didn’t work out. It’s hard for kids to execute things we haven’t practiced. So that’s that’s a that’s a poor call there. I should have called some better to try to get down the field a bit, but I don’t blame my kids for that. That’s not something that we’ve executed in practice, so I shouldn’t call it.”
Before the fiasco to end the game, Bluffton had some catching up to do after a 14-point deficit at the half.
The Tigers were gut-punched right away when the Patriots took two and a half minutes on the opening drive to go 82 yards. Meyer completed his first pass to D’vontaye Washington on a 23-yard pass, then set up a one-yard keeper following a 47-yard rush.
The Patriots forced a Bluffton punt that was returned to the house by Braden Walter for 75 yards. That got the senior night home crowd on their feet.
“That’s coach (Casey) Kolkman, his kids, and staff,” Kunkel said of his opponent and former Bluffton head coach, led by 27 seniors. “Well, they were ready to go from the start. We weren’t. We were tight. We were tense.”
The Tigers responded with Cooper Craig’s 14-yard carry and a 36-yard completion from Betancourt to Andrew Hunt. Hunt then took a wildcat snap on first-and-goal at the one for a score.
To start the second half, Bluffton’s offense methodically rolled back in the game with Craig’s one-yard touchdown.
The Tigers’ defense stifled the Patriots, making several stops in a row to set up the tying touchdown drive.
The score came by way of Craig’s second touchdown, this time for eight yards.
For most of the game, Heritage had a distinct advantage on the ground, outcarrying the Tigers 198-145 in 10 fewer attempts (Heritage had 6.1 yards per touch to Bluffton’s 3.4).
Meyer, the team’s leading passer and rusher on the season, tallied 131 yards on the ground to go with his two touchdowns.
On the ensuing Heritage drive after Bluffton tied the game, Meyer called his own number seven times for 32 yards. He helped the Patriots pound the experienced Tiger defense that averages six points per game.
“We score there with four and a half minutes, and we don’t get to stop where they kept the ball in (Meyer’s) hand,” Kunkel said. “He’s a hell of a player, and we were able to get down the field, and we didn’t, we didn’t stop it. So you know, that’s one thing we gotta figure out how to get better at.”
Bluffton will have another test next week as they have Senior Night against the visiting Adams Central Flying Jets.
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HERITAGE 27, BLUFFTON 21
At Heritage
Score By Quarters
Bluffton 7 0 7 7 – 21
Heritage 14 7 0 6 – 27
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
H—Kobe Meyer 1-yard run (Meyer kick), 9:29.
H—Braden Walter 34-yard punt return (Meyer kick), 5:04
B—Andrew Hunt 1-yard run (Brody Lewis kick), 1:48.
Second Quarter
H—Nolan Hoskins 14-yard run (Meyer kick), 5:39.
Third Quarter
B—Cooper Craig 1-yard run (Lewis kick), 7:50.
Fourth Quarter
B—Craig 8-yard run (Lewis kick), 6:14.
H—Meyer 1-yard run (kick failed), 1:01.
Team Statistics
BLU H
First Downs 17 12
Rushes-Yards 42-145 32-198
Yards Passing 128 43
Passing (C-A-I) 19-8-1 14-7-1
Penalties-Yards 5-50 8-85
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Punts-Average 1-34 3-31
Time of Possession 28:59 19:01
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Bluffton: Cooper Craig 26-90, Andrew Hunt 7-37, Braxton Betancourt 7-13, AJ Steveler 2-5. Heritage: Kobe Meyer 19-131, Cjau Barnett 4-50, Nolan Hoskins 3-18, Caleb Abbott 2-3, Eli Tigulis 1-(-1).
Passing: Bluffton: Braxton Betancourt 8-19-1 128. Heritage: Kobe Meyer 7-14-1 43.
Receiving: Bluffton: AJ Streveler 5-67, Andrew Hunt 2-37, Ben Ramseyer 1-24. Heritage: D’vontaye Washington 1-23, Preston Fields 4-22, Eli Tigulis 1-(-1), Ibrahim Williams 1-(-1).
