BLUFFTON-Halloween is known for its trick-or-treats and a spooky surprise. Early on, Bluffton (9-2) made sure they threw every trick up their sleeve in this game. But in the end, the defending state champion Adams Central Flying Jets (11-0) found a way to survive and advance with a 35-14 win that was way closer than the score would indicate. 

The game started with a series of punts where both teams were unable to generate any substantial drives to garner any offense. However, following Bluffton’s 3rd punt of the first quarter, the Jets only needed one play to get on the scoreboard, and they got it from their star quarterback. 

Junior Jamison Roach took the ball himself and found a huge role to his left for a 64-yard touchdown run with 3:02 left in the first to lead 7-0. Ok, there’s the break the Jets need. Now, the defense needs to do its job, add onto that lead, and….wait a second. It didn’t take long at all for Bluffton to respond. 

On the ensuing kickoff, junior running back Cooper Craig returned it 93 yards for his first career kickoff return touchdown and tying the game at 7 just 13 seconds after Adams Central’s score. 

That was how the first quarter ended. The start of the second was where Bluffton left off from the first. The Tigers got a stop on 4th and 6 forcing a turnover on downs at their own 36-yard line. However, the common theme throughout the first half was Bluffton’s self-inflicted mistakes and their (lack of) offensive efficiency. 

In the entire first half, Bluffton recorded just a single first down. Now a lot of that came from the dominance of Adams Central’s interior defense-led by Cam Fravel-pressuring Axton Beste and the running back duo of Khamel Moore and Cooper Craig. In fact, Beste didn’t even complete a pass until just a couple minutes into the 2nd quarter, which didn’t result in a big gain. 

The Jets used excellent field position from their own 44-yard line to set up Jamison Roach’s second score of the game to give the Jets a 14-7 lead with 5:22 left in the 2nd quarter. 

Bluffton’s defense held their own for the remainder of the half to go into the locker room only down by a single score against their same ACAC rivals that beat them 47-17 in Week 8. 

When the second half began, Adams Central was supposed to receive the opening kick. But Bluffton had other ideas. In what ended up being one of the most critical moments of the game, Bluffton attempted an onside kick during the opening kickoff. Bluffton appeared to have recovered the onside kick at their own 49-yard line. 

Hold the phone. There’s a flag thrown on the field. Bluffton’s onside kick did not reach 10 yards-which meant Adams Central got the ball from the Tigers’ 49-yard line. They did not miss that golden opportunity. 

Following a 26-yard run from Roach to take it down to the Bluffton 9, Adams Central took three tries at the end zone before Thomas Laughlin scored from four yards out. That made it 21-7 Jets with 10:10 left in the 3rd quarter. 

Bluffton would build an incredible drive on their next series to which five of their nine third quarter first downs came on that sequence capped off by Axton Beste’s short touchdown run. With 3:58 left in that quarter, the lead is down to seven. 

Here is the problem. The reigning state champions had three minutes and 51 seconds to salvage a score before the quarter concluded. In what would be the play of the game, Jamison Roach took the ball himself once again, and made one of the greatest plays in Adams Central history. 

It didn’t matter how hard the Bluffton defense tried; Roach made one move on one end and made another move the next. In a series of breaking tackles and making everyone look silly, Roach went 75 yards from their own 22 to the Bluffton 3-yard line-nearly scoring his third touchdown of the game by a shoestring tackle. Roach finished the game recording 16 carries for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

Two plays later, Thomas Laughlin ran into the end zone for his second score of the game to make it 28-14 Jets going into the fourth quarter. Bluffton tried their best to get back into this game, but two straight drives resulting in turnovers and a turnover on downs on their last substantial series took the wind out of Bluffton’s sails. 

The game was over, before the Jets put the cherry on top in this one. Following three straight plays for a first down, Laughlin punched the Jets’ ticket to the 2A Sectional 35 championship game with his third touchdown of the game. 

Adams Central will look to win their 5th straight combined sectional when they host (9-2) Eastside.