Bluffton continues Heartland Conference action at No. 25 Mount St. Joseph
By Ben Risinger, Sports Information Director
October 26, 2004
The Matchup
When: Saturday, October 30, 2004 at 1:30 p.m.
Where: Cincinnati, Ohio – Schueler Field
On the Radio: Listen live to Bluffton University football on 107.1 FM.
On the Web: Listen live to Bluffton University football at www.wdoh.com
Bluffton University (4-3, 2-1 HCAC) was defeated 37-20 by Hanover College at home. No. 25 Mount St. Joseph (7-0, 4-0 HCAC) defeated Defiance College 41-10 on the road.
The Head Coaches
Head coach Greg Brooks is in his second year at the helm of the Bluffton University football team. Brooks now posts six wins as the head coach of the Beavers. Before his tenure as head coach, Brooks was the offensive coordinator for 22 years.
Rod Huber is in his fifth year leading the Mount football team. Huber has a collegiate coaching record of 20-27 for the Lions. Prior to becoming the third head coach in Lions football history, Huber was a defensive position coach and spent four years as the defensive coordinator.
Bluffton - MSJ Series History
Mount St. Joseph leads the all-time series with Bluffton 7-6. MSJ has won the previous two contests 37-35 in 2002 and 24-0 in 2003. Before the 2002 season, Bluffton had a five game win streak over the Lions dating back to 1997.
Last Time for the Beavers
The Bluffton football team was defeated by Hanover 37-20 last Saturday. The Panthers started the scoring effort in the contest to go up 7-0, only for Bluffton to kick a 27-yard field goal six minutes later to put the game at 7-3. The Panthers scored twice more in the second quarter, but with 47 seconds left in the first half junior kicker Seth Burkholder connected on a 39-yard field goal to put the game at 21-6 in favor of the Panthers. The third quarter wasn’t the best for the Beavers as Hanover scored three more times to widen their lead to 37-6. Bluffton would not be stopped as they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but could not make up the point deficit for the win. The first Beaver touchdown came in the middle of the fourth quarter when senior Mark Gable found the 4-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Krieger. Later in the fourth, Krieger found Gable again for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Even with the fourth quarter surge, the final score was 37-20 in favor of Hanover.
Last Time for the Lions
The Lions offense piled up 394 yards on offense against Defiance, as Bryan Hamrock connected twice with receiver Andy Wellendorf and once with receiver Don Haggard for touchdowns. Hamrock was 9-of-20 for 160 yards. He also rushed for 43 yards on nine carries. The Lions gained 226 yards on the ground with Kevin Cocanougher leading the way with 77 yards. Ricky Story added two short touchdown runs for the Mount.
Defensively the Mount held the Yellow Jackets to 131 yards of offense - 67 on the ground and 64 through the air. The Lions grabbed two interceptions, including David Sanders team-high third pickoff of the season, recovered one fumble, and had four sacks, including two by Andrew Ackerman.
Leading the Beavers
The Beavers have seen action both Tim Koontz and Aaron Krieger at quarterback this season. Koontz currently posts 28 completions for 343 yards in the air and a lone touchdown. Krieger has thrown for 182 total yards and three touchdowns off of 16 completions for the year. Ben Dodds leads the rushers with 615 yards off of 156 carries for seven touchdowns. He currently posts a 3.9 yard average per carry. Mark Gable leads the receivers with 19 catches for 250 yards and four touchdowns. Leon Payne has caught the ball 16 times for 305 yards and three touchdowns. Scott Steiner leads the defensive effort with 87 tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions and four pass break ups.
Leading the Lions
Quarterback Bryan Hamrock has completed 111 passes for 1,355 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2004. Hamrock averages 193.6 yards-per-game passing for a 61 percent completion percentage. Running back Mike Lovell has carried the ball 113 times for 622 yards (5.5 avg. per carry) and five touchdowns on the ground. Wide receiver Andy Wellendorf posts 43 receptions for 819 yards and 12 touchdowns. Defensive end Matt Lawless leads the Mount defense with 64 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four sacks and two fumble recoveries.
Last Year’s Contest
In a game that was only 3-0 in favor of Mount St. Joseph going into halftime, the Lions took advantage of a 21 point second half to beat Bluffton 24-0. The shutout loss was the first for the Beavers since 1998 when they fell to Grove City 44-0. The Beaver defense kept MSJ out of the endzone, forcing the Lions to punt two times and gaining possession off of a turnover on downs. Lion kicker Mike Riga would post a 38 yard field goal and a 48 yard attempt that would be no good in the first half.
MSJ running back Ricky Story was back for the Lions after a brief absence and gave them their first touchdown early in the third quarter with only 12:18 on the clock. Former Bluffton backup quarterback Mike Dane threw two touchdowns (35, 49 yard passes) to Andy Wellendorf to finish off the Lion scoring.
MSJ led in total yards, 346 compared to the Beavers 183 on the day. The Mount posted 137 yards rushing and 209 yards passing compared to Bluffton’s 112 yards rushing and 71 yards passing. Bluffton led in time of possession with 31:52, compared to MSJ’s 28:08.
Next up for Bluffton and Mount St. Joseph
Bluffton University will be back at Salzman Stadium for their final home contest of the 2004 season next Saturday. The Beavers will play Franklin College with the kickoff being scheduled for 1 p.m. Mount St. Joseph will host Anderson University in an HCAC matchup. Kickoff for the contest is 1 p.m.
