Nov. 26—BLUFFTON — Learning to move on after a tough loss is important. Just ask Bluffton football coach Jeff Richards.
In Week 10 of this season — with the Northwest Conference title on the line — Columbus Grove shut out Bluffton, 42-0. With the convincing win, Columbus Grove notched the league title over Bluffton.
With the playoffs kicking off the week after Bluffton’s loss to Columbus Grove, Richards knew his team had to quickly push that loss aside and focus on the postseason.
Since then, Bluffton has been dominant in the playoffs.
This past Friday, Bluffton (13-1) won its second-ever regional championship when it defeated Patrick Henry 24-7, in the Division VI, Region 22 championship, and advanced to this week’s Division VI state semifinal against Midwest Athletic Conference-power, Coldwater (13-1). Coldwater defeated Anna in the D-VI, Region 24 final on Friday, 45-21.
Bluffton and Coldwater will square off on Friday at Wapakoneta’s Mercy Health Field in a Division VI state semifinal with kick-off set for 7 p.m.
This will be the first time that Coldwater and Bluffton have faced off on the gridiron.
“The Week 10 game against Columbus Grove was hugely disappointing, considering all the work that went into it, and to play as poorly as we did,” Richards said. “We were very disappointed in just what we put out on the field. You have to do a lot of self-reflection after you have a loss like that. I was proud of our guys. They understood that you cannot change the outcome, you can only move forward. And they immediately began to focus on Paulding (first-round playoff win). I told them that after Week 10, they had 24 hours to be angry and upset. After that, they had to let it be and move on to the next one. They’ve done that and have done a great job of staying grounded throughout the playoffs. We knew that every week it was going to get tougher, and they have responded.”
Last year, Bluffton lost to Columbus Grove in the Division VI regional championship. Before last week, the last time Bluffton won the regional title was 1991 when it went on to finish as the state runner-up in Division V.
Bluffton has demonstrated that it can run the football, effectively, and accomplish this with more than one running back. Opposing defenses have struggled to slow down Bluffton’s running attack.
“I think that team-wise for us, you’re dealing with the human element. If someone is having a bad day or if someone is sick or banged up a little bit, we know that we can go with another guy and get the same results, but just in a different way,” Richards said. “Our guys are very unselfish. They really don’t care who is getting the credit as long as the team is successful.”
One of the athletes who has helped lead Bluffton this season is sophomore quarterback Tayte Giesige. In Bluffton’s victory against Patrick Henry in the regional championship, Giesige was 9 of 11 passing for 121 yards and had a touchdown. He also rushed for 64 yards on 16 carries.
Through the 14 games this season, Giesige has completed 114 of 172 pass attempts for 1,736 yards with 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He has rushed for 950 yards on 117 carries (8.12 yards per carry) and has 12 rushing TDs.
“Tayte is the type of young man that you would love to have at quarterback,” Richards said. “He’s very competitive and driven. He’s also very detail-oriented. If he’s making mistakes, then he’s learning from them. He accepts coaching, and he tries to lead his team even though he is younger than a lot of them. He’s not a guy who points fingers. If something happens, he will put the blame on himself. He’s a team-first player.”
Leading the Pirates in rushing this season is Parker Lovell, who has 1,020 yards on 130 carries (7.85 yards per carry). Landen Worcester has rushed for 854 yards on 109 carries (7.83) with a team-leading 17 TDs. Griffin Stackhouse has added 342 yards on 47 touches (7.28) with five scores. Stackhouse has also hauled in 37 passes for 797 yards and 14 TDs for Bluffton.
Bluffton has scored 40.3 points per game. Defensively, the Pirates have held their opponents to 9.7 points per contest.
Landen Worcester, a linebacker, leads the Pirates in tackles with 112, along with seven sacks and nine tackles for a loss.
Richards, a former Bluffton High School and Bluffton University standout football player said that getting his program to this point has been a process.
“For me, it’s been a 9-year journey (as Bluffton’s head coach). I wanted to bring Bluffton football into the discussion of state titles, or in the State Final Four (discussion). So, it feels good. … This is home,” Richards said.
Coldwater (13-1) is coming off a convincing 24-point win over Anna in its D-VI regional final on Friday.
The Cavaliers’ offensive unit rolled up 398 yards against Anna. Cody Depweg rushed for 136 yards on 20 carries and had four touchdowns for Coldwater.
“You look at Coldwater on film and on paper, they’re pretty consistent with the talent across the board,” Richards said. “They do some really good things on offense. And defensively, they’ve been very stingy all season. We both kind of had the same trajectory. … We both had a let-down in Week 10, where we both came up short for our conference championships against two really good teams (Columbus Grove, Marion Local), that are also playing against each other (in a D-VII state semifinal). Both teams rebounded in the playoffs and have played well.”
Coldwater finished second to Marion Local in the MAC.
“(Coldwater) coach (Chip) Otten has a group that’s experienced, and they play really good complimentary football,” Richards said. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes. I think their special teams are fantastic as well.”
Coldwater has scored an average of 41 points per game, while its opponents have scored 11 per outing.
Coldwater quarterback Baylen Blockberger is 128 of 179 passing for 1,806 yards with 20 TDs and just three interceptions. Blockberger’s favorite receiver has been Mason Welsch, who has caught 45 passes for 715 yards with four scores.
Braxton Taylor has rushed for 687 yards on 90 carries (7.6 yards per carry) with 10 TDs. Miles Pottkotter has recorded 685 yards on 111 attempts (6.2) with a team-leading 18 scores for the Cavaliers.
On the defensive side of the football, Cody Depweg leads the Cavaliers with 96 tackles, two sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.
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