By: Jordon Bruner, sports information assistant
September 4, 2006

The Centre College Colonels (1-0) handed Bluffton (0-1) a 21-6 defeat in the season opener for both teams on Saturday, September 2.

Freshman running back Andrew Ramthun (Springfield/Southeastern) led the Beaver rushing attack as he carried the ball 21 times for 60 yards. Junior wideout Anthony Bryant (Reynoldsburg/Reynoldsburg) finished the day with 33 yards on five receptions. Junior linebacker Sam McCullough (Bluffton/Bluffton) paced the defense with eight tackles for the day, while senior Bryan Lloyd (Elida/Bath) contributed with seven tackles, including a sack.

Centre opened the scoring late in the first quarter as Jordan Tinnell found a crease and scored on a 27-yard rush to give the Colonels a 7-0 lead with 33 seconds left. The Bluffton defense clamped down in the second quarter limiting Centre to 16 total yards. As the second quarter was winding down, Centre's Zack Sloan returned a punt 73 yards for a score to give the Colonels a 14-0 advantage with only 22 seconds remaining in the first half.

Bluffton closed the gap in the third quarter when senior Jared Owens (Van Wert/Crestview) capped a seven-play 56-yard drive with a one-yard plunge. The extra point attempt was blocked leaving the Beavers down 14-6 with 2:31 left in the third quarter.

Special teams once again hurt the Beavers as Centre recovered a bad snap to the punter at the Bluffton 32 early in the fourth stanza. On the very next play, Kevin Phelps hit Justin Jones on a 32-yard scoring strike making the final score 21-6.

Bluffton's defense held Centre to 200 yards of total offense, however the Beavers' offense could not get going as it mustered only 148 yards in the loss.

Bluffton returns to action on September 16, when it travels to Adrian College for a non-conference matchup. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Adrian.