July 25, 2001

With last season's Heartland Conference co-championship trophy resting neatly on the campus of Bluffton College, the task of bringing home the 2001 HCAC title is the goal of 14 returning starters and Head Coach Carlin Carpenter.

A total of 25 letterwinners are back from the 2000 BC squad, which finished 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the HCAC. Despite the impressive number of returning starters and letterwinners, though, Bluffton said goodbye to a wealth of talent during graduation in May, 15 seniors in all, and return just four of 13 All-HCAC honorees from a year ago.

The biggest hole to fill will be on the offensive side of the football, where four starters on the offensive line and three-time HCAC rushing leader Tyson Goings have all graduated after helping the Beavers lead the HCAC in rushing last season. Goings ended his career ranked third on the BC all-time rushing list with 4,299 yards, and his BC record 1,487 yards rushing last season accounted for 79% of the Beaver ground game.

The BC passing game returns intact, however, as junior quarterback Brad Moore is back after passing for 2,007 yards and 18 touchdowns last season as a sophomore on his way to earning first team All-HCAC honors. His main targets are back, as well, including senior Jamie Stevens (41 rec. 455 yds, 3 TD), sophomore Jovan Johnson (28 rec. 449 yds, 4 TD) and senior Jon Spradling (5 rec. 84 yds). Guard Rick Orr, a second team all-league selection last season, and tight end Joel Mick return on the offensive line.

Fullback T.J. Phlipot (20 car., 59 yds, 7 rec. 69 yds, TD) returns and will be paving the way for a new tailback that for the first time since 1997 will be someone other than Goings. Quality depth at the wide receiver position, led by sophomore Ben Osterland (1 rec., 5 yds, TD), will need to produce if a lack of depth at the tailback position necessitates a move by Stevens or Johnson to the backfield.

Defensively, gone are middle linebacker Greg Ditz (2nd in HCAC with 111 tackles), defensive end Greg Bruns (53 tackles, 13 TFL, 6 sacks) and free safety Shawn Goetz (53 tackles, 4 interceptions), all of which were first team all-conference selections last

season. In addition, starting positions at outside linebacker and defensive tackle are also vacant, but are ready to be filled by the depth of last season which helped the Beavers force 26 turnovers, notch three shutouts and finish the season ranked second in the HCAC in pass defense, scoring defense and total defense.

Second team all-league defensive back Josh Slaughter (37 tackles, 2 int.) leads the returning starters on defense, which also include defensive end Brian Steiner (52 tackles, 1 int.), linebacker Pat Craun (46 tackles, 4 int.) and defensive backs Jeff Company (42 tackles, 15 pass break ups) and Ben Schwab (40 tackles, 3 int.). In addition, regulars Jon Richardson (olb) and Matt Scholz (dt) also return.

Kicker Brandon Cupples graduated in May ranked #4 on the BC career kick scoring list and leaves big shoes to fill. Leading the candidates to replace him is junior Adam Burgess, who booted 18 of 22 PATs in 1999 as a freshman while Cupples was injured.

Jovan Johnson and Jamie Stevens were both kickoff return leaders for BC last season, combining for 357 yards between them. Johnson also took over the punt return duties late in the season, with seven returns for 16 yards.Bluffton opens the 2001 season on September 1 in Salzman Stadium against Marietta College (Ohio Athletic Conference). Non-league games at Hiram College (North Coast Athletic Conference) and at home against Thiel College (President's Athletic Conference) will lead into a bye week before the Beavers open their HCAC schedule at Anderson on September 29.

Three of Bluffton's first four league games are on the road this season, but Hanover College, who shared the HCAC title with BC last season, will come to Bluffton on October 14 for homecoming. In addition, Defiance College and Franklin College, who finished third and fourth in the conference a year ago, also make trips to Bluffton in 2001.  

Carpenter and his staff got an early start on putting the pieces together for the 2001 football season as Bluffton traveled to Barcelona, Spain, from May 15-29 and played a game against a Spanish conference champion. The Beavers were given ten days of spring practice and won the game 28-0, which coupled with the camaraderie of the trip should lend itself for a good kickoff to the 2001 season.

Should BC pull off another league title it would be their first back-to-back league championships since the Beavers won five straight titles in the Mid-Ohio League from 1956 to 1960. In a similar era of powerhouse teams, the 1985-90 Bluffton teams posted a 44-13 overall record but were members of a conference for just the 1985 season.

-BEAVERS-