By RYAN WALKER
Bluffton’s unstoppable rushing attack lifted the Tigers to a 35-21 win over Eastbrook in the sectional semifinal Friday night.
The efforts marched Bluffton to its second-straight sectional championship appearance after a 34-year drought without a title.
The Tigers (9-2) gave the Panthers (7-4) a taste of their own medicine with over 300 yards rushing on the night by three main ball carriers. Moore led the charge with 238 yards on the ground, finding the endzone three times. Tucker Jenkins was next at 67 yards, and Cooper Craig piled up 59 yards.
The three bullied a normally beefed-up Eastbrook defensive line, averaging 8.6 yards per rushing attempt. Of the five touchdowns, four of them were bursts of 38 yards or more.
“I felt really good running behind one of the best lines in the state,” Moore said.
The Tigers have the ability to throw the ball with their senior leader and quarterback Braxton Betancourt, but head coach Brent Kunkel believed more in his offensive line more than the Panthers’ defensive line.
“We watched film, and we thought we had an advantage up front just because of who we are and kind of the style of defense that (Eastbrook) had played all year,” Kunkel said. “And so the plan all along was to use Khamel, to use Tucker, to use Cooper. That’s kind of our identity.”
Bluffton got off to a hot start, giving a typically elite Eastbrook team fits up front.
Moore broke out two touchdowns on gains of 38 and 57 yards, while Craig jolted one for 42 yards.
In the meantime, the Tiger defense held the opposition to 55 yards in the first quarter on just 12 plays. Eight of those plays went for three yards or less.
Fletcher Wenger led the unit with nine total solo tackles, with Jenkins and Alex West helping with seven. Johnny Cruz had five.
To start the second quarter, the Panthers began to find a rhythm, taking an 11-play drive to the one-yard line as the bulky 200-pound Gage Engle powered through for six points.
But Moore would help lead the offense yet again for some more points. He slashed through two levels of the Panther defense for 29 yards making it to the four-yard line before punching it in for a one-yard score a few plays later.
At the half, it was all Bluffton 28-7.
“Our guys made some plays up front, especially in that first quarter,” Kunkel said. “I thought we really kind of came out and established the line of scrimmage in that first quarter.”
But what would be a Jeff Adamson run Eastbrook squad without a fight?
A combined 15-8 record over the past two years would be a good stretch for just about any other school, but the Panthers have made two state championship runs in the past six seasons. With Adamson at the helm, they’ve been to four state title matches (although going 0-4), and you can’t count them out.
Eastbrook completed a 10-play drive aided by a roughing the passer call with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The score had Bluffton on its heels in a methodical, yet no-huddle, run game that started to catch some traction spanning the second into the third quarter.
The Panthers had gained momentum and looked as if they would give Bluffton a game with plenty of time in the fourth quarter.
“A lot of that is Coach Adamson at Eastbrook,” Kunkel said of his counterpart. “He’s a hall of famer in every sense of the word. I mean, he’s been there for 35 years (with) over 300 wins, and he’s just a class act. His program is a first-class program, so they’re extremely well-coached. We knew that they did some things to give us some fits there.”
With a third-and-short opportunity for the Panthers, lineman Cruz stuffed their leading rusher Engle for a one-yard stop. On fourth-and-3, West and Griffin Morgan plowed through the offensive line to stop Eastbrook for negative yards and give the ball back to the Tigers.
Jenkins would strike a dagger into the heart of the Panthers on a 38-yard carry, trucking an Eastbrook defender to make the score 35-14.
Eastbrook would score once more with 2:35 to go, but the Tigers recovered the onside kick to seal the deal.
With the win, Bluffton will host another sectional championship. Next Friday the Eastern Comets come to town, all the way from the east side of Kokomo, bringing a 9-2 record with them.
Eastern hasn’t been a common opponent for Bluffton, at least in Kunkel’s tenure, but he does know they’ll be chomping at the bit to get their first sectional title.
“I know they have never won a sectional,” Kunkel said of Eastern. “So they’re going to come in with nothing to lose kind of a situation. Somewhat what we were in last year where it had been a long time. It’s been better for them, and they might play loose and free. I’m sure they’ll be the ‘underdog’ in the game, so yeah, it’ll be an exciting atmosphere for sure.”
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BLUFFTON 35, EASTBROOK 21
At Bluffton
Score By Quarters
Eastbrook 0 0 0 0 – 21
Bluffton 0 0 0 0 – 35
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
B—Khamel Moore 38-yard run ( Yaroslav Serdiuk kick), 8:56.
B—Moore 57-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 6:39.
B—Cooper Craig 42-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 1:47.
Second Quarter
E—Gage Engle 1-yard run (Keegan Hallis kick), 10:49.
B—Moore 1-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 6:28.
Third Quarter
E—Engle 5-yard run (Hallis kick), 5:58
Fourth Quarter
B—Tucker Jenkins 38-yard run (Serdiuk kick), 6:34.
E—Engle 6-yard run (Hallis kick), 2:35.
Team Statistics
BLU EAS
First Downs 17 18
Rushes-Yards 45-369 56-260
Yards Passing 59 15
Passing (C-A-I) 8-5-0 5-1-0
Penalties-Yards 7-70 9-76
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Punts-Average 1-34 3-44
Time of Possession 28:49 19:11
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Eastbrook: Gage Engle 25-94, Bodie Howell 17-87, Carson McDaniel 8-47, Cooper Craw 3-21, Colin Reyes 3-11. Bluffton: Khamel Moore 30-238, Tucker Jenkins 8-67, Cooper Craig 4-59, Braxton Betancourt 3-5.
Passing: Eastbrook: Bodie Howell 1-5-0 15. Bluffton: Braxton Betancourt 5-8-0 59.
Receiving: Eastbrook: Carson McDaniel 1-15. Bluffton: AJ Streveler 3-41, Andrew Hunt 2-18.
