BLUFFTON — The Wilmington College football team allowed 35 straight points in dropping its season opener to Bluffton Saturday, 49-20, in non-conference action at Alumni Field here on the BC campus.
Three different players rushed for touchdowns, including two from running backs. Wilmington only had one rushing touchdown from the running back position all of last year. The Fightin’ Quakers finished with 161 yards on 34 carries.
Sophomore Gino Hinton sprinted 68 yards for his first career touchdown to knot the game at seven, but the Beavers defense stiffened. While Bluffton defense limited the Fightin’ Quakers offense, its own offense exploded for five straight scores.
Hinton finished with 89 yards on 12 carries.
Three of Bluffton’s first five scores came via shorts fields as the Beavers had scoring drives of 21, 32 and 46 yards.
Wilmington had a chance to keep up early as they drove down to the 10 yard line, trailing 14-7. However, two penalties moved them back and a missed 35 yard field goal brought the drive to a halt.
Offensively, WC turned the ball over three times – two interceptions and one fumble – and quarterback Luke Creditt was sacked six times.
Creditt finished 20-for-32 passing for 189 yards and two interceptions. He added 45 yards, 42 on his touchdown run, on 13 carries.
Junior P.J. Meyer hauled in a team-high 67 yards on four catches, while junior Tim Murphy pulled down a team-high six passes for 47 yards and junior Tyler Tarnowski added five catches for 42 yards.
Senior CJ Thompson led the team with nine tackles, including two for loss, while sophomore Jay Higgins added seven tackles.
Wilmington (0-1) has a week off before entering Ohio Athletic Conference action play 7 p.m. Sept. 17 hosting Otterbein.
SUMMARY
September 3, 2016
@Bluffton College
Bluffton 49 Wilmington 20
B 14.21.07.07…..49
W 07.00.07.06…..20
SCORING
First quarter
B-Roberson 15 pass from Sheehan (Watkins PAT) 12:16
W-Hinton 68 run (Brown PAT) 11:46
B-Dell 11 pass from Sheehan (Watkins PAT) 7:09
Second quarter
B-Roberson 32 pass from Speice (Watkins PAT) 14:33
B-Carroll 8 run (Watkins PAT) 8:30
B-Stith 17 pass from Sheehan (Watkins PAT) 2:19
Third quarter
B-Dell 19 pass from Speice (Donnellan PAT) 10:50
W-L. Creditt 42 run (Brown PAT) 8:18
Fourth quarter
B-Koch 24 run (Donnellan PAT) 7:17
W-Manica 1 run (Run failed) 2:11
TEAM STATS
First Downs: W 18, B 26
Rushing: W 34-161, B 41-224
Passing: W 20-32-2, B 14-22-0
Passing yards: W 198, B 193
Total yards: W 359, B 417
Penalties: W 12-90, B 4-48
Fumbles, lost: W 1-1, B 2-2
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: W-Hinton 12-89, Manica 9-27, Creditt 13-45; B-Campbell 9-59, Carroll 6-40, Sheehan 5-40
Passing: W-Creditt 20-32-2; B-Sheehan 8-14-0
Receiving: W-Meyer 4-67, Murphy 6-47, Tarnowski 5-42, Voltz 2-15, Hinton 1-12, Phillips 1-12, Manica 1-3
Tackles (solo): W Thompson 7, Higgins 5, Poland 4, Middleton 3, Narcisse-Murphy 3, Moore 3, Dawson 2, Prince 1, Waters 1, Ross 1
Tackles (for loss): W Thompson 2, Middleton 1 Waters 1
Fumble recoveries: Prince 1
Pass breakups: Waters 1, Roberts 1
