By RYAN WALKER
BERNE — Bluffton’s brand new team started off a brand new season with plenty to be encouraged about Friday night.
The Tigers (1-0) walloped Blackhawk Christian (0-1) 39-6 on the opening night of the football season where Bluffton is returning only a small handful of starters from last year.
One of the 18/22 stating replacements included Axton Beste, who is now leading the charge as a sophomore quarterback. He opened the game with a 44-yard bomb to fellow sophomore Easton Blair on the first play, then followed two more touchdown passes to A.J. Streveler in the second quarter.
Star running back Khamel Moore returned as the team’s leading rusher despite missing the first seven weeks of last season. On day one of his junior season, he housed two 20-plus yard scoring carries to claw the Braves in the first half. He finished the night going for 89 yards on nine carries in the first half.
Beste finished his first varsity start with a 9-11 completion rate (81%) and 188 yards for three scores — all while throwing to multiple receivers — Streveler, Blair, Cooper Craig, Declan Grieser and Treyton Bustos.
Skill positions will be where the Tigers are the strongest, and head coach Brent Kunkel used every bit of what he had in week one.
“Axton, those four receivers, those two running backs — from a skill perspective, we’re ahead of what we were two years ago when we lost all those seniors,” Kunkel said.
It wasn’t the quickest of starts for Bluffton after Beste’s throw to Blair, but it’s perhaps expected when all five offensive linemen are getting varsity minutes for the first time.
After that first drive of the season, the Tigers were punched in the gut on a four-and-out and a three-and-out. They finished the quarter up 6-0 and if it wasn’t for interceptions from Coleson Teeple and Alex Mechling, Bluffton might have been down at the end of the first round.
“To Blackhawk’s credit those kids — they play hard and they might have played a little bit harder than we were at the start,” Kunkel said. “Because I think our kids, no matter how much you simulate, there’s nothing I can replicate stepping out there first thing on a Friday night.”
But after some of those early-game season jitters, the Tigers found their way. They used all of their weapons and spaced them on the field for what was a successful opening night with plenty of growth.
“(I’m) happy with the way we rebounded from kind of a slowish start,” Kunkel said. “And I told (the team), I’d rather learn being 1-0 rather than the other way around.”
To Blackhawk’s defense, the program has only been around 11-man football for one season. Last year, it finished 1-9 following a state title in 8-man football with four other schools.
Head coach Brice Bennett is still building the foundation of the school’s new sport, but Kunkel shared the improvement the Braves have made has been monumental.
On the defensive front, Bluffton had a strong showing in the run game, but work to do in the secondary.
Blackhawk primarily runs the football, but only netted seven yards on 21 carries Friday night. Bluffton’s defense had eight tackles for loss for a total of 19 yards lost for Blackhawk.
Tavin Frees had three tackles for loss, while returning second-team all-ACAC linebacker Griffin Morgan tallied five total tackles, 1.5 for loss. Marshall Gerber added four tackles.
From the start of the game to the finish, the Tigers were strong in the front seven. But the Braves’ six competitions ended up with a total of 28 yards per catch. One went for 71 yards to Dylan Grimes.
Bluffton’s entire secondary unit is also starting for the first time and has not played as a unit together.
Outside of some big plays, the Tigers began the season on a high note and will start preparations for next week’s road matchup between the Tigers and Manchester Squires. That game will start at 7 p.m. next Friday, Aug 30. Manchester fell 19-14 to Northwestern in the opener.
ryan@news-banner.com
BLUFFTON 39, BLACKHAWK 6
At South Adams Sigh School
Score By Quarters
Blackhawk 0 0 0 6 – 6
Bluffton 6 27 6 0 – 39
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
B—Axton Beste 44-yard pass to Easton Blair (kick failed), 0:12.
Second Quarter
B—Khamel Moore 22-yard run (Abram Gehrett kick), 1:50.
B—Moore 28-yard run (Gehrett kick), 2:47.
B—Beste 30-yard pass to A.J. Streveler (kick failed), 1:20.
B—Beste 19-yard pass to Streveler (Gehrett kick), 0:00
Third Quarter
B—Cooper Craig 5-yard run (kick failed), 2:25.
Fourth Quarter
BC—Chip Bennett 15-yard pass to Roman Mayer (kick failed), 6:29.
Team Statistics
BLU BC
First Downs 18 6
Rushes-Yards 34-207 21-7
Yards Passing 188 168
Passing (C-A-I) 9-11-0 6-13-2
Penalties-Yards 3-25 3-15
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-Average 1-28 5-25
Time of Possession 27:17 20:43
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Blackhawk: Roman Mayer 9-10, Alex Wiegand 1-0, Gage Bennett 6-0, Chip Bennett 5-(-3). Bluffton: Khamel Moore 9-89, Cooper Craig 7-47, Dawson Lee 3-31, Axton Beste 5-28, Bryce Patrick 3-15, Abram Gehrett 1-8, Parker Nash 1-4.
Passing: Blackhawk: Chip Bennett 5-12-2 155, Roman Mayer 1-1-0 13. Bluffton: Axton Beste 9-11-0 188.
Receiving: Blackhawk: Dylan Grimes 1-71, Gage Bennett 2-45, Crus Rothenbush 1-24, Roman Mayer 1-15, Chip Bennett 1-13. Bluffton: A. J. Streveler 3-62, Easton Blair 1-44, Cooper Craig 1-28, Treyton Bustos 2-26, Declan Grieser 1-26, Coleson Teeple 1-2.
