Ground attack leads Lancers in West opener [The Herald-Palladium, St. Joseph, Mich.]

Sept. 11--Lakeshore used a dominating ground game to roll to an easy 49-7 win at Mattawan in a Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West Division opener Friday night.

The Lancers (1-0 SMAC West, 3-0) ran 42 times for 389 yards and scored six of their seven touchdowns on the ground.

Robert Shelby led eight ball carriers with eight carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Alex Padla added eight rushes for 97 yards.

Padla started the scoring for the Lancers with a 16-yard touchdown run on the game's opening possession.

The only score through the air followed, as Johnny Nate completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Brooks.

Lakeshore went on to lead 28-7 at the half and pushed the edge to 42-7 in the third quarter to put the 35-point mercy rule running clock in effect.

Mattawan (0-1, 1-2) was led by quarterback Mackenzie Dietz, who was 4 of 9 for 111 yards.

Lakeshore 14 14 14 7 -- 49

Mattawan 0 7 0 0 -- 7

L -- Alex Padla 16 run (Caleb Colp kick)

L -- Dylan Brooks 25 pass from Johnny Nate (Colp kick)

L -- Robert Shelby 25 run (Colp kick)

M -- Hazen Barrett 5 run (Kyle Hillsburg kick)

L -- Shelby 34 run (Colp kick)

L -- John Ashbrook 1 run (Colp kick)

L -- Nick Adams 3 run (Colp kick)

L -- Austin Haney 3 run (Colp kick)

Vicksburg 21, Dowagiac 20

Dowagiac built a 17-12 halftime lead but could only manage 3 points in the second half as Vicksburg came from behind for the win.

The Chieftains (2-1) rushed for 209 yards led by Austin Adams' 119 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Mike Pranschke was 6 of 16 passing for 136 yards with two interceptions.

Vicksburg (3-0) was led by Connor McCormick with 119 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries He was 4 of 6 passing for 93 yards with no interceptions.

McCormick hit Kris Chesser with a 69-yard touchdown pass for the game-winner in the fourth quarter.

Dowagiac 7 10 0 3 -- 20

Vicksburg 6 6 3 6 -- 21

V -- Aaron McGuire 30 run (kick failed)

D -- Cody Carnell 21 run (Brett Scanlon kick)

D -- Austin Adams 45 run (Scanlon kick)

D -- Scanlon 37 field goal

V -- Conner McCormick 5 run (conversion failed)

V -- Jessse Boulnemour 37 field goal

D -- Scanlon 37 field goal

V -- Kris Chesser 69 pass from McCormick (conversion failed)

Coloma 42, La Lumiere 8

Coloma rushed for 275 yards in defeating La Porte La Lumiere to get its first victory.

After forcing La Lumiere to punt on its first series, Coloma running back Rickey Payne went 73 yards for a touchdown on the Comets' third play.

"We had good blocking to get Rickey open around the end and that took the wind out of their sails quite a bit," said Comets coach Mark Eddy.

Payne had 10 carries for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Steinhoff was 7 of 11 passing for 98 yards with no interceptions and two touchdowns for the Comets (1-2).

La Lumiere 0 0 0 8 -- 8

Coloma 14 22 0 6 -- 42

C -- Rickey Payne 73 run (conversion failed)

C -- Shane Wright 17 run (Rickey Payne run)

C -- Saxton Gagliardo 3 run (Wright pass from AJ Steinhoff)

C -- Wright 17 from Steinhoff (conversion failed)

C -- Payne 2 run (DJ Thomas pass from Steinhoff)

L -- Drew Luther 49 from Zack Wisniewski (Wisniewski run)

C -- Dashon Archibald 28 from Steinhoff (conversion failed)

New Buffalo 52, Covert 6

New Buffalo's defense held Covert to just 71 yards of total offense and picked up a safety while the Bison offense was racking up 346 total yards and seven touchdowns.

"I think we proved that we're a pretty good football team tonight," said New Buffalo coach Steve Forker. "Kevin Levine had a great game and all the kids executed very well and played hard all night."

Levine led New Buffalo (2-0 Red Arrow, 2-1 overall) with three touchdowns and 114 yards on nine carries while Jim Mullen had six carries for 85 yards and a touchdown to go with an 18-yard touchdown catch.

Covert (0-1, 2-1) was led on the ground by Kysean Wright with 52 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Covert 0 0 6 0 -- 6

New Buffalo 27 18 7 0 -- 52

NB -- Kevin Levine 17 run (Blake Ostrom kick)

NB -- Levine 11 run (kick failed)

NB -- Blake Ostrom 2 run (conversion failed)

NB-- -- Jim Mullen 24 run (Devon Huitsing froom Blake Ostrom)

NB -- Mullen 18 from Ostrom (Levine from Ostrom)

NB -- Levine 45 run (Levine conversion)

NB -- Safety

C -- Kysean Wright 15 run (conversion failed)

NB -- Levin 13 run (Ostrom kick)

Hartford 31, Gobles 8

Gareth MacMillan rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns as Hartford remained undefeated.

Shayne Carlson rushed 22 times for 99 yards and returned a fumble for a score for the Indians (3-0), who led 17-0 at halftime.

Hartford outgained Gobles (1-2) 298-182. Jon Scherer had eight tackles and one sack to lead the Indians. Juan Perez had four extra-point kicks and a field goal.

Gobles 0 0 0 8 -- 8

Hartford 7 10 14 0 -- 31

H -- Shayne Carlson 22 fumble return (Juan Perez kick)

H -- Gareth MacMillan 36 run (Perez kick)

H -- Perez 30 field goal

H -- MacMillan 12 run (Perez kick)

H -- MacMIllan 9 run (Perez kick)

G -- Adam Vosburg 1 run (Alec Reynolds run)

Bangor 35, Marcellus 0

Bangor (2-1) held Marcellus (1-2) to a net 7 yards of offense while racking up 335 yards of its own in shutting out the Wildcats.

Jimal Valentine led the Vikings with 176 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Nik Abbott was near perfect, going 9 for 10 for 143 yards and two touchdowns including one of 82 yards to Nicholas Watkins.

Ja'bari Brazelton had two catches for 37 yards and a touchdown. Charles Cox and Scott Thorbjornsen led the Vikings on defense with seven tackles each.

Bangor 14 7 14 0 -- 35

Marcellus 0 0 0 0 -- 0

B -- Jimal Valentine 8 run (Andres Cardoso-Diaz)

B -- Nicholas Watkins 82 pass from Abbott (Cardoso-Diaz kick)

B -- Ja'bari Brazelton 18 from Abbott (Cardoso-Diaz kick)

B -- Valentine 23 run (Cardoso-Diaz kick)

B -- Zack Birkhead 5 run (Cardoso-Diaz kick)

Decatur 32, Fennville 26

Stephen Botti passed for 181 yards and three touchdowns as Decatur topped Fennville in a back-and-forth game.

The teams combined for 711 yards of offense. An Anthonie Mortimore touchdown reception in the third quarter was the winning score, as Fennville led 26-24 at the half but did not score after that.

Mortimore had three catches for 83 yards and two scores. Alex Boitnott caught the other Decatur touchdown, a 20-yard pass in the second quarter.

Brandon Grosvenor rushed 32 times for 149 yards and a score for Decatur (1-2).

Wes Leonard was 10-of-23 passing for 230 yards and two TDs for Fennville (1-2).

Grosvenor had 12 tackles for Decatur. Teammate Mitch Kennedy added two sacks.

Fennville 12 14 0 0 -- 26

Decatur 8 16 8 0 -- 32

F -- Wes Leonard 5 run (run failed)

D -- Anthonie Mortimore 37 pass from Stephen Botti (Alex Boitnott pass from Botti)

F -- Ryan Goodell 4 run (run failed)

D -- Brandon Grosvenor 1 run (Grosvenor run)

F -- Nikolas Oviedo 21 pass from Leonard (pass failed)

D -- Boitnott 20 pass from Botti (Max Drenth pass from Botti)

F -- Adam Siegel 43 pass from Leonard (Siegel pass from Leonard)

D -- Mortimore 20 pass from Botti (Grosvenor run)

Lake Michigan Catholic 47, River Valley 0

Lake Michigan Catholic ran for nearly 400 yards in shutting out River Valley (0-1 Red Arrow, 0-3).

"After the Mendon game (a 50-0 loss) we had the boys' attention all week at practice and that helped," said Catholic coach Jerome Learman. "Our offensive line did a great job opening up holes all night."

Joey Frazee led the Lakers with 214 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns rushing and one receiving.

Austin Juza threw for two touchdowns as well as rushing six times for 96 yards and a touchdown.

On defense Lake Michigan Catholic (1-0 Red Arrow, 2-1 overall) was led by Jimmy Koenig with 13 tackles while Justin Salvano and Shane Gallagher had 11 tackles apiece.

Catholic 14 12 14 7 -- 47

River Valley 0 0 0 0 -- 0

C -- Eric Shultz 21 pass from Austin Juza (Joey Frazee kick)

C -- Juza 35 yard interception return (Frazee kick)

C -- Frazee 33 run (kick failed)

C -- Juza 3 run (conversion failed)

C -- Frazee 50 run (Frazee kick)

C -- Frazee pass 15 from Juza (Frazee kick)

C -- Juza 24 run (Frazee kick)

Cassopolis 7, Centreville 6

Nathan Hartline caught a 61 yard touchdown pass from Dwayne Morgan late in the first quarter.

When Blaise Suseland kicked the extra point, that would be the difference in the game.

Josh Mieras returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards, but the Bulldogs' extra point was blocked to preserve the Rangers' lead.

Cassopolis 7 0 0 0 -- 7

Centreville 6 0 0 0 -- 6

CS -- Nathan Hartline 61 pass from Dwayne Morgan (Blaise Suseland kick)

CV -- Josh Mieras 95 kickoff return (kick failed)

Records -- Cassopolis 3-0

Edwardsburg 36, Bronson 12

Michael Kempton racked up 162 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries as Edwardsburg defeated Bronson.

The Eddies (3-0) were down 12-0 when Kempton scored late in the first quarter on a 60-yard run.

The Edwardsburg defense, led by Austin Stinnch with 13 tackles, Sawyer Reynolds with 10 held Bronson (1-2) scoreless the rest of the game.

Edwardsburg 8 7 7 14 -- 36

Bronson 12 0 0 0 -- 12

B -- Anthony Mictchell 7 run (kick failed)

B -- Nathon Smoker 10 run (kick failed)

E -- Michael Kempton 60 yd run (conversion)

E -- Kempton 50 run (Jeff Roberson kick)

E -- Kempton 3 yd run (Roberson kick)

E -- Adam Kendall 34 run (Roberson kick)

E -- Lee Williamson 52 run (Roberson kick)

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