BC vs. Urbana preview

BC vs. Urbana

By Ben Risinger, SID
September 30, 2003

The Matchup

            When: Saturday, October 4, 2003 – kickoff at 1:30 pm

            Where:  Urbana, Ohio – Wood Street Stadium

            On the Radio: Listen live to Bluffton College football on WDOH 107.1 FM. The game can also be found on the internet at www.wdoh.com.

 

   The Bluffton Beavers enter the contest with a 2-1 overall record. The Urbana Blue Knights have a 0-4 record for 2003. Bluffton beat Husson College 36-6 last week. Urbana fell to St. Xavier 45-7 at home.

 

The Coaches

   Bluffton coach Greg Brooks (2-1) picked up his first home win last week against Husson 36-6. Brooks is no stranger to the Bluffton program having been the offensive coordinator for the past 23 years. He is a 1977 graduate of Ohio University where he was a quarterback and a four-year letterman for the Bobcats.

   Urbana is led by Todd Murgatroyd. He owns an overall career record of 1-14.

 

Series History

   Bluffton and Urbana will meet for the twelfth time on Saturday. The Beavers own an 8-3 advantage over the Blue Knights. Bluffton has won the contest the last two times the schools have met 31-14 in 2002 and 17-14 in 1995. The last time Urbana won against Bluffton was in 1994, 21-20 at Urbana.

 

This Year’s contest

   Urbana will enter the game with a 0-4 record. Bluffton travels to Urbana with a 2-1 record.

Last Week
   Bluffton battled with Husson and took the game easily 36-6. Sophomore quarterback Jared Owens posted four total touchdowns (three rushing, one in the air) on the contest. His touchdowns were good enough to earn offensive player of the week for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Pat Craun earned defensive player of the week by posting nine tackles (one for a loss, one sack and one pass break up).

   Urbana lost to St. Xavier 45-7.

 

Leading the Beavers on the year

   Quarterback Jared Owens enters the contest with 458 yards on the season (61.4 %). He has thrown one touchdown pass and averages 152.7 yards per game. Ben Dodds leads the attack on the ground with 243 yards on the year. He has three touchdowns and is averaging 81.0 ypg. He is leading the Beavers in all-purpose yards, averaging 109.0 ypg. Mark Gable leads the receivers with 152 yards on the year and one touchdown. He averages 50.7 ypg.  Defensively Chris Sommers leads the Beavers with 35 tackles and one pass break up for the 2003 campaign. Pat Craun follows behind with 21 tackles, 2 TFL’s and 2 quarterback sacks.

 

Leading the Blue Knights on the year

   Urbana quarterback Geron Stokes posts 464 yards for the year. He is currently owns a completion percentage of 39.5 (114-45-2). Josh Jones leads the team in rushing with 216 yards on 65 carries for the year. Jones averages 54.0 yards per game. The receiving corps of Urbana is very evenly distributed with only one player with more than 100 yards on the season. Heath Butler posts nine catches for 110 yards, averaging 27.5 ypg. Defensively, Charles Boyd leads the Blue Knights with 57 tackles, 15 TFL’s, two pass break ups and four sacks for the season.

 

Beavers in the Heartland Conference

    As a team the Beavers lead the HCAC in rushing offense, averaging 206 yards per game. Bluffton ranks third in total offense with 358.7 ypg. The Beavers defense ranks second in HCAC rushing defense allowing opponents only 102.0 ypg. In total defense Bluffton is third, allowing opponents 351.7 ypg.

   Ben Dodds currently ranks second in the HCAC in rushing with 243 total yards (81.0 ypg) with Jared Owens following at fifth in the league with 185 total yards (61.7 ypg) on the ground. From the air Owens currently ranks fifth in passing with 458 total yards (152.7 ypg). Chris Sommers ranks third in the HCAC with 35 tackles for the season.

Last Season Overall

   Bluffton finished the 2002 campaign at 3-7 (1-5 HCAC). Urbana finished the 2002 campaign at 1-10.

 

Next up for the Bluffton College
   Bluffton will play Anderson at home to open the conference season of play. The weekend is also Homecoming for the Beavers with many different activities scheduled. Kickoff for the football game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.