When: Saturday, September 15, 2007, at 1:30 p.m.
Where: Bluffton, Ohio - Salzman Stadium
On the Radio: Listen live to Bluffton University football on WDOH 107.1 FM.
Bluffton University welcomes Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association power Adrian College to Salzman Stadium for a matchup against the Bulldogs.
Greg Brooks is currently in his fifth year as the head coach of the Bluffton University football team. The Beavers have put together a 13-28 mark during Brooks’ tenure at the helm. He previously served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Bluffton, leading the Beavers to their best offensive seasons in school history.
In his 18th season as head coach at Adrian College, Jim Lyall is the longest tenured head football coach in the MIAA as well as all Michigan colleges and universities. The 2007 season will be Lyall’s 34th on the sidelines at Adrian College. The University of Michigan graduate came to Adrian in 1974 as an assistant coach. He directed the defensive line, secondary, linebackers, and served as the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs. Lyall has more wins than any coach in Adrian football history.
Adrian has won 11 of its 14 meetings with Bluffton University, including the last three from 2004-06. The Beavers defense performed well a year ago at Adrian, but the offense sputtered as the Bulldogs put together a 17-6 victory for the first win at their new stadium.
Bluffton had its chances early in the first quarter thanks to a couple of big plays by the defense. Sam McCullough broke through the line to block the Colonels' punt on their first possession. A first down completion to tailback A.J. Ramthun gave the Bluffton faithful hope, but a sack by Tyler Boron halted the drive, giving the ball back to Centre.
On the Colonels' ensuing drive, McCullough again came up the turnover, picking off Jarrod Williams on only the second play from scrimmage. The Beavers rode tailback tandem Ramthun and Cameron Campeau to the Centre 12 before Jonathon Thompson put Bluffton on top with a 29-yard field goal.
The Beavers forced Centre into five consecutive three-and-outs to open the second half, but they could not take advantage until late in the fourth quarter when Campeau and Ed Jackson combined to move the chains three times en route to a nine-yard touchdown reception by junior tight end Joel Sienicki who came down with the ball after Centre got a hand on it.
Bluffton picked up 14 first downs compared to only 10 for Centre, but the Beavers managed only 179 yards of offense. The Bluffton defense held Centre to 202 yards for the contest. On third down opportunities, Bluffton converted on 8-of-20 chances, while the defense held Centre to only 3-of-14 conversions. Bluffton went 3-of-4 on fourth down for the game.
Campeau led the Beavers with 43 yards on the ground while sophomore quarterback Brock Miller completed 7-of-15 passes for 78 yards and one touchdown with one interception. Joel Sienicki and Drew Lovelace both hauled in four receptions for 36 and 35 yards respectively. McCullough picked up where he left off last season, ending the day with a game-high 15 tackles, a blocked punt and an interception. Kyle Spence and Gordon Hagen both chipped in with seven stops for the Beavers.
Adrian 35, Defiance 9
Defiance allowed 35 points in the first 29:05 of action on Saturday and fell by a 35-9 score to Adrian College at Coressel Stadium. The teams battled to a scoreless tie through the majority of the opening quarter before Adrian found the end zone on three-straight possessions, lasting under 40 seconds each, to take command with a 20-0 lead.
The first strike came in the waning seconds of the first quarter as Mike McGee found Desmond Upshaw for a 55-yard score to complete a one-play drive. The Bulldogs followed that up with yet another single-play scoring drive on their first touch of the second quarter. The score was set up by a Criston Calley interception on Defiance’s own 40-yard line and Troy Niblock did the rest with a 40-yard sprint to pay dirt to push the spread to 13-0.
Niblock ran for 100 yards and two scores to lead the Bulldog offense, while Kyle Dunaj had seven solo hits and a game high of 11 total tackles.
Freshman tailback Cameron Campeau leads the Beavers ground game with 43 yards on 22 carries. Sophomore quarterback Brock Miller completed 7-of-15 passes for 78 yards with a touchdown in the opener. Joel Sienicki and Drew Lovelace both hauled in four receptions for 36 and 35 yards, respectively, including a touchdown by Sienicki.
Two-time first team All-HCAC linebacker Sam McCullough led the Beavers with 15 tackles, a blocked punt and an interception against Centre College. Sophomore defensive tackle Kyle Spence and senior linebacker Gordon Hagen both picked up seven stops for the Beavers. Jordan Achterman and Mitch Agner maneuvered their way into the backfield for quarterback sacks in the contest vs. the Colonels.
Bluffton will travel to Kalamazoo College on Saturday, September 22, to face its second MIAA opponent in as many weeks. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Adrian hosts Huntingdon College (Ala.) on September 22, with a 12 p.m. start.
