Buhler hands Augusta first loss

AUGUSTA – As the third quarter ticked away Friday, Buhler’s Dillon Engelland sat alone on the Crusaders’ bench, hardly the portrait of a hero.

Engelland spent halftime away from his teammates, dealing with an upset stomach that sapped his energy.

Whatever bothered the senior running back at that point was not evident in the first half against Augusta. Engelland ran for all but five of his 178 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters, including a pivotal 64-yard dash right before the break that sparked Buhler to a 47-21 victory at Hillier Stadium.

Buhler, No. 2 in Class 4A-Division I, improved to 4-0 and knocked Augusta off its perch atop the AV-CTL III standings. It was the Crusaders’ seventh consecutive victory over Augusta since 2007.

“I was feeling a little off all day,” said Engelland, who fueled Buhler’s 294-yard rushing effort before yielding to sophomore Dalton Brown in the third quarter. “I’m not sure what it was.”

It wasn’t enough to tilt things in upset-minded Augusta’s favor. The Orioles (3-1) seized an early 7-0 lead behind the running of junior Raef Hilt. But four personal-foul penalties and five turnovers chipped away at Augusta’s chance for success.

“I think it’s a big lesson for all of us,” said Hilt, who finished with 93 yards on 17 carries. “That’s not us. We shouldn’t be taking cheap shots and making turnovers.”

Engelland scored on a pair of 2-yard runs in the first quarter to give Buhler the lead, then added a 13-yard touchdown in the second quarter after the Crusaders’ defense set its offense up with good field position.

Still, Augusta appeared to be in good shape late in the first half. The Orioles caught a break when Zach Barkley’s line-drive punt struck a Buhler defender and Augusta’s Kenton Rocheford recovered the ball at Buhler’s 21. Three plays later, Barkley ran a quarterback draw in from 23 yards to cut Buhler’s lead to 21-14.

“We were playing with them until, what, the last five seconds of the first half,” Augusta coach Jason Wilbeck said.

Looking content to take the seven-point lead into halftime, Buhler gave the ball to Engelland. He broke away from a tackle and outraced defenders to the end zone for his fourth touchdown six seconds before intermission.

“It was huge because they had all the momentum at that time,” Buhler coach Steve Warner said. “I just had a gut feeling not to throw it. For some reason, it just didn’t feel right and that’s when we went to the ground.”

Augusta pulled within 28-21 on Luke Dockers’ crafty 64-yard run on the opening possession of the third quarter. But Buhler turned to Brown and answered with a 12-play, 67-yard drive. Brown gained 65 of the yards, capping the march with a 1-yard touchdown to stretch the Crusaders’ lead to 35-21.

Buhler’s defense made the outcome decisive. Linebacker Jake Goertzen intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 35 yards on the final play of the third to make it 41-21. Josh Potter added the final touchdown with 31 seconds to play after the Crusaders came up with their second fumble recovery to go with three interceptions.

“I didn’t feel like we played uptight, but we definitely lost our heads,” Filbeck said. “We deserve to lose if we’re going to make penalties and turnovers like we did tonight.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 11:22 PM with the headline "Buhler hands Augusta first loss."