BLUFFTON – Paulding made the long trip to Bluffton in Division VI, Region 26, high school football playoff action on Friday where the host Pirates kept the Panther offense in check all night long in rolling to a 63-6 victory.
The maroon and white totaled only 195 yards of offense in the contest, with quarterback Colten Hunt throwing for 144 yards in completing 11 of 28 passes.
Kobe Foor and Hunt ran for 24 and 15 yards, respectively, to lead the Paulding ground attack despite the Panthers being held to 44 yards in all on the ground.
Jesse Schaffer and Caleb Larson picked up three catches apiece for the Panthers with Blake Rhonehouse, Jalen Manz and Jackson Griffith getting two receptions each.
Jalen Manz topped the Panther defense with 11 tackles on the night while Foor picked up seven stops and Jack Woods posted five tackles.
Hayden Dearth paced Bluffton with a trio of touchdowns on the night, catching scoring passes of 31 and 14 yards in the second quarter after running 11 yards for a score in the opening period.
Landen Worcester scored on runs of two and 46 yards for the Pirates and Gavin Bogart hauled in a 16-yard scoring strike in the first quarter.
Bluffton led 21-0 at the end of one period and expanded the margin to 49-0 at the midway point.
Tayte Giesige then returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter for a 79-yard return for a score and Avery Sprunger caught a five-yard scoring strike from Giesige to push the lead to 63-0 entering the final stanza.
Paulding’s lone score of the night came on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Colten Hunt to Caleb Larson.
The Panthers close the season with a record of 6-5 overall.
