DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
“Ain’t gonna be no rematch.”
That famous line by Apollo Creed in Rocky may be fitting to describe how Bluffton and Adams Central feel after their Week 8 clash, won by the Tigers at a high cost, 36-28.
Like Creed, Bluffton ultimately won the fight, taking the ACAC title for the first time since 1989, but they also suffered a big blow, losing starting quarterback Axton Beste for the game. How long he will be out remains unknown.
Like Rocky, the Jets may have no interest in playing Bluffton again if the second meeting will be as frustrating as the first, but their goal of winning a 3A sectional title will almost certainly go the way of Rocky II – in a rematch that will ultimately define the series between the two rivals (at least for 2026).
Hyped as the matchup of the regular season in the ACAC, there was little luster lost when Adams Central fell in Week Six to South Adams.
The visitors started off with a bang, with Cooper Craig showing he was the best player on the field on the night, running the opening kickoff back 60 yards. It would have been a sensational score if not for the extreme efforts of Barrett Collier, who came from the far side to take down Craig. Four plays later the Tigers were in the end zone.
A blocked punt by Xander Schwartz negated the touchdown pass by Beste, and the Adams Central sideline went into a frenzy when the Tigers fumble on second and short inside their own half of the field to set up a short field for Jamison Roach, who capped a seven-play drive with a keeper into the end zone.
While the Tigers took the lead with three touchdowns on the next three drives, it was a great, 15-yard catch by Gavin Grieser (his only reception of the night) on 4th & 14 that set it all up.
The defense, though, did the dirty work. Adams Central was forced to punt twice in the game and they were just one of five on fourth down conversion attempts.
Of those three touchdowns, two were scored by Craig. One came via rush and the other was a back-breaking 89 yard score on the first play of the drive from Ethan Ribich, who took over for the injured Beste.
By the time the Jets made it to the locker room, they had a 15-point deficit staring them in the face.
The home team did not relent and they came out of the break with an outstanding nine-play drive, which was finished off with a brilliant run up the middle for 38 yards and a score by Schwartz.
A casual observer might have watched the next score in the game, a dropped handoff that bounced directly back up to Cooper Craig before a 41-yard run, and written the final result off as fate. The bounce simply went the Tigers’ way more often than not.
Roach led the Jets back down the field on the possession after Craig’s lucky bounce for a six-play, 74-yard drive, but the scoreboard didn’t change after Adams Central converted the two-point try to bring it to within eight points.
Adams Central scored a special teams touchdown, had more first downs than Bluffton and ran 23 more offensive plays than the Tigers, who played much of Friday’s game without their starting quarterback, Axton Beste, but it was the Tigers who still prevailed.
Craig had 118 yards on 20 carries with a pair of rushing touchdowns. Along with the touchdown catch and 91 yards receiving, he led all players with 347 all-purpose yards when the kick returns are added in.
Beste was 3 of 3 for 43 yards and a score before going down with the injury. The Tigers were just as good after he went down with Ribich, who was 8 of 11 for 160 yards and two scores.
Ashton Yergler had three catches for the Jets for 87 yards.
Jami Roach was sacked five times and the Tigers had five more tackles for loss, taking 61 yards away from the Jets’ offensive numbers. He was 5 of 10 in the air for 95 yards.
Xander Schwartz led the Jets in rushing with 93 yards. Godfrey Shoaf had just nine touches and had 29 yards, while Thomas Laughlin made a brief return, picking up just twelve yards on five carries.
The Jets will round out the regular season with their traditional game at Woodlan, while the Tigers are the odd team out in the ACAC for the final team in Week 9. They have a 3-5 Blackhawk Christian team scheduled at home to round out the regular season.
Fans of the Jets can hear Friday’s game at Woodlan via WZBD.
SCORING SUMMARY
Quarter One
9:40 – B – Bennett Steller 33-yd catch from Axton Beste, PAT by Ribich good, 7-0
5:26 – AC – Xander Schwartz blocks punts, recovers, 12-yd return for touchdown, Braylen Cowans PAT good, 7-7
1:25 – AC – Jamison Roach 11-yd run, Cowans PAT good, 7-14
Quarter Two
9:13 – B – Cooper Craig 10-yd run, Ribich PAT good, 14-14
6:37 – B – Cooper Craig 89-yd catch from Ethan Ribich, Ribich PAT good, 21-14
:59 – B – Maddox White 22-yd catch from Ethan Ribich, Ribich pass to Eli Kerner good, 29-14
Quarter Three
7:21 – AC – Xander Schwartz 38-yd run, 2-PT try no good, 29-20
6:09 – B – Cooper Craig fumble recovery, Ribich PAT good, 36-20
4:14 – AC – Jamison Roach 1-yd run, 36-28
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