By: Colton Steiner 

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton Beaver football squad opened up its 2025 campaign on Alumni Field in a contest that went all the way down to the final play. Despite a slow start from the Beavers, they never lost their fighting spirit, scoring 17 unanswered in the second half to down the Owls by a final score of 20-17. With the season and home-opening victory, Bluffton begins the year with a 1-0 record in Head Coach Chris Hedden's first season at the helm, while Kenyon fell to 0-1. 

The first quarter would be relatively quiet until Kenyon got on the scoreboard with a 31-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 2:11 to play in the opening quarter. Following a four-play drive from the home team, the Owls added seven after a 24-yard passing touchdown extended Kenyon's lead to 10-0.

With 6:23 left in the half, the Beavers cut the deficit to 10-3 when Colton Yugovich (Mansfield/Lexington) drilled a 44-yard field goal. Kenyon responded with another passing touchdown from 38-yards out, putting the visitors up 17-3 going into the break.

Coming out of half, the Beavers went on a nine-play drive and capped it off with a 35-yard field goal from Yugovich, making it 17-6. On the following kickoff, a short pooch from Yugovich backspun and stayed in bounds where Bluffton could dive on top of it and recover the onside kick. With momentum shifting in their favor, the Beavers would immediately march down the field and run a short 1-yard touchdown from quarterback Tywuan Clark (Toledo/Central Catholic) which cut the deficit to four as the home team was able to make it a 17-13 ballgame with 6:37 left in the third quarter.

After a couple drives from each team turned up uneventful, Kenyon would go for it on fourth down, but Jaydon McBreen (Portland, Ore./Westview) jumped into the passing lane and grab the interception to put the Bluffton offense back on the field with 3:37 left in the game. Following a sack and an incomplete pass, the Beavers were set up for third and 18 with 2:00 left, but a strike from Clark to Niegel Payne (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) was hauled for a diving one-handed catch to complete the 43-yard pass deep in Kenyon territory.

With just under a minute to play, Clark escaped the collapsing pocket and found Connor Cannon (New Haven, Ind.) for an 18-yard completion. After a 1-yard run from Clark, he would then roll out to the left side of the field and connect with Niegel Payne for 15 yards, putting the Beavers inside the 10. Kenyon would deliver Bluffton even closer to the goal line after a roughing the passer penalty on third down moved the Beavers to the six-yard line. With the seconds ticking away, Clark hit Jaivon Hudson (Bedford) on a short pass to the left and Hudson dove across the pylon, giving Bluffton its first lead of the game, going up 20-17. Kenyon would be unable to answer in the final 11 seconds as the Beavers would go on to be victorious by a final score of 20-17. 

Despite only having 64 yards in the first half, Clark finished the game completing 18-of-30 passes for 261 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hauling in six catches for 133 yards was Niegel Payne followed by freshman Jashawn Wyckoff (Cleveland/Cleveland Heights) who snagged five balls for 78 yards. Yugovich had a perfect day kicking the rock, hitting both field goals and his two extra points. Leading the Beavers defensively was Brandon Resnover (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) who tallied eight total tackles that included seven solos and one tackle for loss. Also coming up big for the Beaver defense was Devin Hogan (Warren, Mich./Fitzgerald), who had five stops with four total TFL's, including two sacks. 

The Beavers finished the game with 286 yards of total offense while the Owls would tally 340 yards on the night. Despite being outperformed in yardage, Bluffton excelled at possession, controlling the ball for 35:05. while Kenyon possessed the football for just under 25 minutes. 

It was Bluffton's fourth win against Kenyon, putting the series at 5-4 in favor of the Owls. The Beavers will look to carry this momentum into next week when they host the Albion College Britons on Saturday, Sept. 13 at noon.

- BEAVERS -