By RYAN WALKER
FORT WAYNE — Bluffton’s football season ended the same way it did last year — falling on the road to Bishop Luers in a 15-7 final score Friday night.
The game was much closer than last year’s 35-6 rout as the Tigers (10-3) returned the vast majority of their team, but not enough to overcome the now 22-time regional champion Knights (10-3).
Bluffton will be graduating 16 seniors on the roster, a class that broke the 34-year drought of a sectional title and won it twice, and a group that poured everything over the past two seasons and cut the losses in the regional final down by 21 points to the Knights.
“It’s a tough group to watch play their last game,” said a teary-eyed Bluffton head coach Brent Kunkel after the game. “They’ve done a lot for our program. (The) winningest all-time class in school history, two sectional titles, and played their butts off tonight. It sucks. It sucks.”
The Tigers had their opportunities in all four quarters and plenty of them.
The Knights’ defensive unit took the run game away for mostly the entire game, holding for 2.4 yards per attempt. Five Tiger drives stalled for three-and-outs, and seven total punts were the difference.
Khamel Moore and Andrew Hunt had a few carries that had life but never consistently.
Bluffton’s offensive line was the primary reason for Moore, Tucker Jenkins, and Cooper Craig to run through with much success. The coaching staff’s game plan in the first half was to pound the rock, running the ball 26 times to just three Braxton Betancourt throws. But what they didn’t expect was it not to work like it has all season.
“They were much better up front — maybe more than we had seen on film or anticipated,” Kunkel admitted.
It wasn’t just the Tigers that struggled to get the offense going, as the Knights couldn’t find much of anything either.
Of the three possessions in the first half, Luers was only able to cross midfield once, which turned into a 28-yard field goal by Angel Rojas.
The two teams were an even 92-92 in total yardage, with Bluffton’s pressure on senior quarterback Kohen McKenzie enough to force three straight third-down completions.
The third quarter was where Bishop Luers showcased its speed and athleticism that ate the Tigers alive last season.
McKenzie hit Isaac Zay for a 26-yard play on a crucial third-and-seven completion to set up the game’s first touchdown. McKenzie lobbed a screen pass to the speedy running back Gio Jimenez for 15 yards, who carried a pair of Tigers to the endzone with him.
After Bluffton went three-and-out for the third straight time to open the second half, Bishop Luers quickly moved up the field. It took four run plays to set up shop in the fourth quarter at the Tigers’ 20-yard line. The first play in the quarter was a 20-yard score from Mickey Daring, who also muscled his way across the goalline with defenders attached.
The two touchdowns only tallied 12 points, as one of Rojas’ kicks hit the left upright of the goal post, and Brody Lewis blocked another. The score remained at one possession and technically still within Bluffton’s reach.
But still, the offense was swarmed by Knights.
Even when the Tigers got a fumble recovery near midfield, an interception followed two plays later.
It didn’t help that Betancourt took a hit in the third quarter and was removed for the rest of the game with an elbow injury, Kunkel confirmed. Freshmen Axton Beste came out from the sidelines to try and muster a comeback against a top-10 team in 2A down 15 points.
Two drives later, the Knights gave the Tigers their best opportunity to score of the night, fumbling again but now at their own 20-yard line.
After a five-yard false start, Beste rainbowed a perfect pass into the hands of AJ Streveler, who snatched the ball and came down with a 25-yard score on the far right side.
With Bluffton back in business, it tried an onside kick but failed with over two minutes remaining.
The Knights got down to the Bluffton 29-yard line and threw an incomplete pass to give the ball back to with 2:16 to go.
Beste completed a pair of passes for a first down to Jenkins and Hunt, but was faced with a 3rd-and-eight. Beste was rushed in the pocket and couldn’t escape the Knights’ pressure, losing 11 yards.
The final play was an interception that iced the game.
All things considered, Beste, the likely candidate to replace Betancourt behind center next year, did what he could when called upon. He went 8-15 with 60 yards.
“I thought Axton came in and did some good things, but he’s a 14-year-old kid playing in the regional final against Bishop Luers,” Kunkel said.
Bishop Luers will play for the semi-state next week at home against Lafayette Central Catholic. In the other semi-state, Southmont will travel to North Posey.
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BISHOP LUERS 15, BLUFFTON 7
At Bishop Luers
Score By Quarters
Bluffton 0 0 0 7 – 7
Bishop Luers 3 0 6 6 –15
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
L—Angel Rojas 28-yard field goal, 4:14.
Second Quarter
No scoring.
Third Quarter
L—Kohen McKenzie 15-yard pass to Gio Jimenez (kick no good), 5:50.
Fourth Quarter
L—Mickey Daring 20-yard run (kick blocked), 11:51.
B—Axton Beste 25-yard pass to AJ Streveler (Yaroslav Serdiuk kick), 4:58.
Team Statistics
LUE BLU
First Downs 10 11
Rushes-Yards 29-111 34-84
Yards Passing 103 67
Passing (C-A-I) 19-11-0 22-9-2
Penalties-Yards 6-50 4-30
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0
Punts-Average 4-39 7-34
Time of Possession 19:47 28:13
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Bluffton: Khamel Moore 15-50, Andrew Hunt 4-20, Braxton Betancourt 4-19, Tucker Jenkins 5-12, Cooper Craig 2-3, Hunter Wenger 1-2, Axton Beste 3-(-22). Bishop Luers: Gio Jimenez 16-73, Mickey Daring 8-40, Finn Saxe 1-4, Daveon Surry 1-(-1), Kohen McKenzie 1-(-3).
Passing: Bluffton: Axton Beste 8-15-2 60, Braxton Betancourt 1-7-0 7. Bishop Luers: Kohen McKenzie 11-18-0 103, Jaylen White 0-1-0 0.
Receiving: Bluffton: AJ Streveler 1-25, Tucker Jenkins 3-20, Ben Ramseyer 1-14, Andrew Hunt 3-8, Trey Bustos 1-0. Bishop Luers: Isaac Zay 4-57, Gio Jimenez 3-30, Jaylen White 3-13, Wes Javins 1-3.
