BLUFFTON — It was a rough start for Wynford Friday night. And while the Royals hung close for a half, they never really recovered, falling to Bluffton, 38-0, in their Division VI, Region 22, playoff game.

The Pirates set up a one-play 12-yard touchdown with a 48-yard punt return for the first score of the game. On its next possession, Bluffton (11-1) got a 51-yard scoring run from Landen Worcester to take a 14-0 lead.

Wynford (7-5) had a chance to pull within one touchdown just before half. But an interception in the end zone with less than a minute left in the second quarter thwarted the effort.

From there, momentum swung definitively to the Pirates. That interception was one of five turnovers by the Royals, while Bluffton had none.

“We do a big emphasis on getting takeaways on defense and taking care of the ball on offense,” Bluffton coach Jeff Richards said. “They did a great job. I was really proud of Quinn Eachus having two interceptions tonight (including the one at the end of the first half). He might be our smartest defensive back.”

After misfiring prior to halftime, Wynford could never right the ship.

“We played alright at times, especially on offense in the first half,” Wynford coach Cyle Skidmore said. “But we kind of just let the energy fade away after half.”

Bluffton received the second-half kickoff and drove 62 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. The drive was capped by a 16-yard run from Griffin Stackhouse to make it 21-0.

The score seemed to energize the Pirates’ defense, which held the Royals to 37 yards of offense in the final two quarters.

“(In the) second half, we told the guys if we could put one more in, we thought that would be enough to put a comfortable lead,” Richards said. “They did that. They were able to pounce on them over a few more things and came out with a win.”

The shutout by the Pirates’ defense was the eighth in their 11 wins, and in two others, they surrendered just one score.

“Bluffton’s a very good football program. Their defense is pretty good,” Skidmore said with a wry grin. “We take pride in being explosive and having athletes and having speed. We also take pride in being big up front. Well, they’re big up front and they have a lot of speed too. So, they switched it.”

Worcester scored on a one-yard run and Braeden Jordan caught an 11-yard pass from Garret Bogart. Kyle Basil kicked a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.

Anthony Evans led the Wynford attack with 57 yards rushing on 13 carries. Kaiden Blair added 51 yards on 16 tries. Ashton Warren completed 10 of 21 passes for 74 yards.

“They scored a lot of points, and they have a lot of yardage on their offense,” Richards said of the Royals. “We had size to our guys. (The Royals) are going to move the chains, they’re going to get first downs — just not to have the big ones that are backbreakers — and our defense did a great job as normal.”

Wynford, in fact, had 11 first downs in the first half, 15 for the game. But the Royals could not find the end zone, though they had two apparent touchdowns called back for penalties.

Worcester had 93 yards on 8 carries for the Pirates and scored two touchdowns. Gavin Bogart had 37 yards on five attempts.

“Overall, our team, our seniors, our program, everyone did a great job this year, proving all the doubters wrong that doubted the Wynford football program,” Skidmore said.

Bluffton moves on to play Ottawa Hills — a 28-21 winner over Colonel Crawford — next Friday at a neutral site to be named.

“Tonight, we become the second Bluffton team to win multiple playoff games in a season and the first to win seven home games in a season,” Richards said. “And they’re not done yet.”

Skidmore says goodbye to eight seniors — Warren, Blair, James Rindfuss, Doug Lambert, Aden Shaffer, Chandler Elchert, Blake Cooper, and Kalen Skidmore.

“I love the seniors,” Coach Skidmore said. “I love all these kids. They gave me the ability this year to just grind them all off-season. In my opinion, they answered the call to bring the Wynford football program back on top.”

Score by quarters

Wynford          0           0          0         0   — 0

Bluffton        14           0        21         3   — 38

Scoring summary

First quarter

B — Gavin Bogart 12 run (Kyle Basil kick), 10:10.

B — Landen Worcester 51 run (Basil kick), 7:19.

Third quarter

B — Griffin Stackhouse 16 run (Basil kick), 7:52.

B — Worcester 1 run (Basil kick), 4:08.

B — Braeden Jordan 11 pass from Garret Bogart (Basil kick), 1:31.

Fourth quarter

B — Basil 34 field goal, 3:20.

Individual statistics

Passing

Wynford: Ashton Warren 10-21-3 74; Bluffton: Garret Bogart 5-9-0 37.

Rushing

Wynford: Anthony Evans 13-57, Kaiden Blair 16-51, Ashton Warren 9-7, Chandler Elchert 1-4; Bluffton: Landen Worcester 8-93, Gavin Bogart 5-37, Griffin Stackhouse 5-26, Hayden Dearth 1-8, Garret Bogart 1-0.

Receiving

Wynford: Kaiden Blair 4-39, James Rindfuss 5-28, Anthony Evans 1-7; Bluffton: Braeden Jordan 2-31, Griffin Stackhouse 1-5, Gavin Bogart 2-1.

Team statistics

W                B

First downs                  15                4

Rushing                     39-119         20-164

Passes                        10-21-3         5-9-0

Yards passing              74                 37

Total yards                  193               201

Fumbles-lost               2-2               0-0

Punts                           2-35.5        2-33.5

Penalties                      5-53           3-30