Thiel College 45, Bluffton University 14

Bluffton at Thiel

Beavers suffer first loss of season to Thiel, 45-14

By Ben Risinger, Sports Information Director
September 18, 2004

Game Statistics

GREENVILLE, Penn. – The Bluffton University football team (2-1) was defeated 45-14 by Thiel College (2-1) Saturday, for their first loss of the 2004 season.

 

The Tomcats started the scoring effort for the game as they quickly went up 14-0 in the first quarter. However, late in the first quarter, freshman running back Terrence Clayton (Napoleon/Napoleon) would score his first collegiate touchdown as he ran back a 96 yard kickoff return to put the Beavers on the board. Kicker Seth Burkholder (Pandora/Bluffton) would boot the point after kick to tighten the game to a 14-7 Thiel lead.

 

Thiel then scored three unanswered touchdowns over the next two quarters as Bluffton struggled to keep the Tomcat offense at bay. Late in the third, junior Ben Dodds (West Liberty/Bellefontaine) would put the Beaver’s last points on the board as he took in a three yard touchdown run. Bluffton tightened Thiel’s lead to 31-14 with the point after kick. The Tomcats posted two more touchdowns late in the third and fourth quarter for the final tally of 45-14.

 

The Beavers saw both junior Aaron Kreiger (Temperance, Mich./Temperance) and junior Tim Koontz (Goshen, Ind./Concord) at quarterback on Saturday. Kreiger posted one completion for three yards with Koontz connecting on three passes for 36 yards on the day. Dodds led the rushing and receiving efforts with 16 carries for 39 yards and one touchdown on the ground and caught two receptions for 19 yards in the air. Freshman linebacker Sam McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) led the Beaver defense with nine tackles (5 solo, 4 assisted). Defensive players Bryan Lloyd, Scott Steiner, Matt Chiles and Jeremy Anderson would post eight tackles each for the game.

 

The Beavers amassed 145 yards of total offense (106 rush, 39 pass) on the game to Thiel’s 420 total yards (199 rush, 221 pass). Bluffton had nine first downs to Thiel’s 22 for the contest.

Bluffton University will be back on the road next Saturday as they travel to Adrian College. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m.