Spartan Football Falls To Bluffton

BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Manchester University football team was defeated by Bluffton University on Saturday November 6, falling on the road in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action by a final score of 31-7.

Bluffton knocked in a 37-yard field goal in the 1st quarter for an early 3-0 advantage. The Beavers then found the end zone twice in the 2nd quarter. Bluffton quarterback Blake Rine threw touchdown strikes of 35 and 10 yards to push the Beavers’ advantage to 17-0.

The Beavers would add another score on its opening possession of the 3rd quarter. Blake Rine threw his third touchdown of the game, completing a 16-yard pass to Laurenz Johnson. Bluffton would find the endzone one final time, scoring midway through the 4th quarter following a 6-yard touchdown pass from Zachary Nobis to Chris Mclaurin

Manchester’s young offense was held off the scoreboard until the final seconds of Saturday’s game. Carter Campassi (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) did manage to throw a 2-yard touchdown pass to senior Harrington Greer (South Bend, Ind./Riley) with 29 ticks left on the game clock. Greer had 4 receptions for 50 yards on Saturday.

For the game, Bluffton tallied 415 total yards of offense – throwing for 293 yards and rushing for 122 yards. Manchester put up 286 yards of total offense – throwing for 174 yards and rushing for 112 yards.

Jalen Masden (Evansville, Ind./Harrison) finished with a team-high 8 tackles. He had 1 sack against Bluffton. 4 additional Spartans added 5 tackles on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester (2-7, 2-4 HCAC) will conclude its season next weekend at home against rival Anderson University. The Spartans will look to win back the coveted Bronze Ball Trophy.

Bluffton (3-6, 2-4 HCAC) will travel to rival Defiance College to conclude its season next weekend.