Bluffton defenders converge on Crestview’s Beau Eggleston during Friday night’s game at Bluffton, which won 21-0.
Jessica Trinko | The Lima News
BLUFFTON — Last week, four teams shared the lead atop the Northwest Conference standings.
With wins against two of those teams Friday, Bluffton and Columbus Grove earned the right to remain kings of the hill for now.
That doesn’t mean things get any easier for any of those top four teams, as each faces one another during the final weeks of the season.
“We’ve got three really tough opponents, and we told our guys the final four games of our regular season schedule, we’re going to be in a grind,” Bluffton coach Jeff Richards said after his team knocked off Crestview, 21-0, last week.
Bluffton (7-0, 4-0 NWC) appears to be on a collision course with Columbus Grove (5-2, 4-0 NWC) for the conference title. Columbus Grove handed Leipsic its first loss of the season, 28-14, last week. The Pirates and Bulldogs duel in the final week of the season.
First, Bluffton has to take on Leipsic (6-1, 3-1 NWC) this week and Allen East (2-5, 1-3 NWC) next week. Columbus Grove must get past Crestview (5-2, 3-1 NWC) and Ada (3-4, 1-3 NWC).
“We’ve won a lot of big games in the last few years,” Columbus Grove coach Andy Schafer said. “It certainly felt good to beat Leipsic, no question, but you could tell as soon as we started practice earlier this week, the kids were ready. There’s a ‘next game’ mentality.”
The Bulldogs, led by running back Trenton Barraza, have been part of a league championship in four of the last five years. A loss at the end of the Allen East game last year still haunts Schafer, he said; CG lined up wrong on a long quarterback run for a TD on fourth down.
Bluffton doesn’t have that history of the recent championships, so the Pirates must keep proving themselves on the field. The Pirates blanked Crestview and recorded the team’s fifth-straight shutout. They lead the league in most points scored per game (42.9) and fewest allowed (4.0), thanks in part to running back Landen Worcester, who topped 1,000 yards last week and leads the league in rushing by 254 yards.
“I think we made a statement, but we’ve got three tough games left,” said Noah Bricker, a junior linebacker for Bluffton. “You’ve got to grind it out and get to practice every day. We have to show up, and we’ve just got to keep going. We can’t be satisfied.”
One slip-up by either of the top teams could open up a spot for Crestview, which has the league’s leading passer in Bryson Penix, or Leipsic, which has the NWC’s top scorer in Quin Schroeder. It should make for an exciting end of the year in the NWC before Ada and Leipsic leave the league next year.
“A trophy is a trophy. It doesn’t matter what size or how you get it, you want it,” Schafer said. “If you don’t, you wish you’d get it. It’s a conference title, you know?”
Final three games
Bluffton (7-0, 4-0 NWC): Friday vs. Leipsic; Oct. 13 at Allen East; Oct. 20 at Columbus Grove
Columbus Grove (5-2, 4-0 NWC): Friday vs. Crestview; Oct. 13 at Ada; Oct. 20 vs. Bluffton
Crestview (5-2, 3-1 NWC): Friday at Columbus Grove; Oct. 13 vs. Spencerville; Oct. 20 vs. Leipsic
Leipsic (6-1, 3-1 NWC): Friday at Bluffton; Oct. 13 vs. Delphos Jefferson; Oct. 20 at Crestview
David Trinko wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
