By RYAN WALKER
After two seasons of sectional championships, the Bluffton Tigers had an early exit in postseason football.
The two-year joy ride of titles came to a screeching halt when No. 4 Adams Central pounded the Tigers 35-7 in the opening round of the sectional.
The ACAC’s top dog over the past four seasons reached 2A by making the 1A state championship for three seasons in a row and getting a bump up due to the new IHSAA success factor rule. That allowed the Jets (10-1) to haunt the Tigers (6-4) for both the conference and sectional this year.
“Give (Adams Central) the credit, they’re the program,” Bluffton head coach Brent Kunkel said. “And that’s what I told the guys, ‘That’s where we want to get.’”
Kunkel’s squad knew it had to play as clean of a game as it had all season, erasing mistakes made in week eight against the same team. For the most part, it did. But the other side of the coin was the Jets’ splash play ability, and it was on full display.
Bluffton got the ball to start the game and made several steps forward toward Adams Central’s endzone. Several first-down pickups were aided by hard-count offside penalties, throws and runs and got into the redzone.
But Bluffton caught itself with two straight false start penalties, going in reverse to first and 20. Then, a 10-yard penalty put them completely out of range and forced a punt in what once was first and 10 at the 18-yard line.
“That (first drive) was going to be the key for us, but it’s a function of who (the Jets) are,” Kunkel said. “But they’re not used to being down and if you can come out and get a score on them, maybe it starts to sow some seeds of doubt a little bit, especially because of how close two weeks ago actually was we did a good job moving down the field. Guys executed.”
The long drive killed eight minutes off of the game clock, but no points were scored. Then, it only took Adams Central one minute to take care of business.
Quarterback Jamison Roach kept the ball on an option play and darted toward the left sideline for 55 yards. That gave the Jets first and goal at the four-yard line. Running back Matt Heiser took it in on the next play and got the Jets on the board.
That first drive destroyed any momentum the Tigers could have had in the first quarter. As much time as there was left in the game, that was all the Jets needed, scoring on their next four possessions with explosive plays from all sorts of athletes. Bluffton did not have an answer, and a stunning running clock ensued with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter down 35 to zip.
“It felt like the wind was out of our sails at that point,” Kunkel said on the opening possessions.
Adams Central gushed the Tigers on the ground, again producing 300 yards in the run game. The first meeting two weeks ago was an identical 315-yard push.
Roach picked up 115 yards on just six carries, good for 19 yards a pop. Heiser rushed for 90 yards, while Braylend Reber and Joey Everett also picked up 32 and 20-yard gains on just one handoff each.
The lone score for the Tigers came on a 23-yard strike to Parker Barnes in the fourth quarter, who was left alone in the endzone.
Bluffton picked up 144 yards through the air from sophomore Axton Beste, who threw 14-26 and connected with Eli Bertsch seven times for 71 yards. Cooper Craig rushed for 76 yards on 15 carries and was the only running back to rush the ball.
Next week, Adams Central will host Churubusco.
The Tigers’ 6-4 season historically would be a success and was a solid campaign. It started with replacing 18 of the 21 starters on both sides of the ball, and the team went 6-0, albeit, playing the weaker part of the schedule early. The past four weeks have been losses to other good programs, and Kunkel shared it reflected the youth of the program.
But he’s also anxious for the next few seasons, citing the returning talent of Beste, Craig, Griffin Morgan, A.J. Streveler, Bertsch and others and the strong junior varsity and eighth grade teams.
“It’s hard to win young, but I will ride or die with Cooper Craig, Axton Beste and Griffin Morgan because we got those three dudes coming back,” Kunkel said. “That’s a great place to start. So, it’s on the weight coach (himself) to get them stronger.”
ryan@news-banner.com
ADAMS CENTRAL 35,
BLUFFTON 7
At Bluffton
Score By Quarters
A. Central 7 21 7 0 — 35
Bluffton 0 0 0 7 — 7
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
AC—Matt Heiser 4-yard run (Braylen Cowans kick), 3:06.
Second Quarter
AC—Jamison Roach 36-yard pass to Braylend Reber (Cowans kick), 8:45.
AC—Roach 8-yard run (Cowans kick), 4:51.
AC—Heiser 4-yard run (Cowans kick), 0:47.
Third Quarter
AC—Roach 2-yard run (Cowans kick), 9:48.
Fourth Quarter
B—Axton Beste 23-yard pass to Parker Barnes (Abram Gehrett kick), 6:30.
Team Statistics
BLU AC
First Downs 16 13
Rushes-Yards 22-88 30-298
Yards Passing 144 83
Passing (C-A-I) 14-26-1 3-3-0
Penalties-Yards 6-61 3-25
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-Average 4-27 2-29
Time of Possession 30:29 17:31
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Adams Central: Jamison Roach 6-115, Matt Heiser 12-90, Braylend Reber 1-32, Joey Everett 1-20, Max Nussbaum 2-11, Thomas Laughlin 2-11, Aaron Hirschy 2-11, Aston Yergler 3-6, Vance Miller 1-2. Bluffton: Cooper Craog 15-76. Axton Beste 7-12.
Passing: Adams Central: Jamison Roach 3-3-0 83. Bluffton: Axton Beste 14-25-1 144.
Receiving: Adams Central: Jaret Smith 1-38, Braylend Reber 1-36, Max Kaehr 1-9. Bluffton: Elijah Bertsch 7-71, Cooper Craig 3-28, Parker Barnes 1-23, Trey Bustos 2-21, Easton Blair 1-1.
