By: Colton Steiner
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - After suffering a 35-7 loss to Mount St. Joseph last week, the Beavers had their eyes on not getting back-to-back losses as they would hit the road to face off against the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers. The Beavers were able to score first and hold the lead for most of the game until the final minute of the ball game, where the Fightin' Engineers would shock the Beavers after scoring 11 unanswered to tie the contest and forcing overtime. After neither team scored in the first overtime, the Beavers were able to respond to a Rose-Hulman field goal with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Niegel Payne (Detroit, Mich. / River Rouge) to walk off the game and give them a 30-27 victory on the road. With the win, Bluffton now sits at 5-2 on the season, with a 3-1 record in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Rose-Hulman falls to a record of 1-6 and are now 1-2 in conference play. It marked the first win over Rose since 2014, a string of 10 straight Engineer victories.
The Beavers would strike first, as Tywuan Clark (Toledo, Ohio / Central Catholic) would complete a pass to Braydon Hower (Wapakoneta), who would find the end zone from 34-yards out with 5:24 left in the first quarter. Just four minutes later, the Fightin' Engineers would answer with a touchdown of their own, evening up the game at 7-7. Bluffton would then take the following drive and burn almost seven minutes off the clock and cap off the 12-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run from Jaivon Hudson (Bedford), giving the Beavers a 14-7 lead with 9:43 left in the first half. The two teams would then exchange field goals in the final three minutes of the first half, as Bluffton would hold a 17-10 lead heading into the break. After Rose-Hulman was able to drill a 28-yard field goal at the 7:31 mark of the third quarter to make it a four-point ball game, the Beavers were able to end their second half scoring drought with 8:28 left in regulation after Jamarrion Banks (Cleveland Heights, Ohio / Garfield Heights) scored off a 7-yard rushing score, putting the visitors up 24-13. Following an unsuccessful fourth down attempt from Bluffton with under three minutes to go, Rose-Hulman would drive down the field and score and convert a successful 2-point conversion to pull within three. The Fightin' Engineers would be able to perfectly recover an onside kick to take over with just 1:39 left on the clock. With momentum on their side, Rose-Hulman would be able to get in field goal range and hit a 31-yard field goal with 20 seconds left to tie the game up at 24 apiece and force overtime. After neither team was able to score in the first overtime, with the Beavers getting stuffed at the goal line and the Fightin' Engineers field goal hitting off the post, the two teams would go into a second overtime period. With the Fightin' Engineers getting the ball for the second overtime, Bluffton was able to hold them to a field goal, and then on their first play on offense, Tywuan Clark would complete a pass to Niegel Payne from 25-yards out, sealing the 30-27 win for the Beavers.
It was as balanced of an attack as you could have, with Bluffton having 210 yards on the ground and 212 yards through the air as they would outgain the Fightin' Engineers in total yardage 422-388. Under center for the Beavers was Tywuan Clark, who would go 12-of-17 for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding 34 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Leading the Beaver backfield with 89 yards was Jaivon Hudson, who was followed by Jamarrion Banks with 73 yards, as both Bluffton running backs were able to cross the pylon in the outing. Two Bluffton receivers would have solid outings, with Niegel Payne going for 70 yards off four catches with a score, while Jashawn Wyckoff (Cleveland, Ohio / Cleveland Heights) was right behind him, hauling in four receptions for 62 yards.
Defensively, Travion Curry (Thomson, Ga. / Thomson) would record a team-high 12 tackles in the contest that included seven solo tackles, with Devin Hogan (Warren, Mich. / Fitzgerald) right on his tail with 11 tackles, one of which going for a loss. Maxwell Moore (Chagrin Falls) would record the Beavers lone sack in the contest, while Nolan Mills (Louisville, Ky. / Meade County) would lead the secondary with three pass breakups to go along with his five tackles in the contest.
The Beavers will come back home next week to celebrate senior day as they will play their last home contest on Alumni Field as they play host to the Hanover Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 1, with kickoff set at 1:30 p.m. Come out and support your Beavers and the senior players.
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