(NILES) – After dropping two of their last three games. St. Joe was looking to reestablish the defense and get the offense back on track against SMAC West rival Niles.

St. Joe did just that as Griffin Beaudette brushed off a shaky start and threw for two touchdowns, and ran for one as St. Joe defeated Niles for the 10th time in 11 years with a 30-0 win in the Vikings homecoming game.

The game started slow for both offenses, as St. Joe missed on the first 8 pass attempts.  The Niles passing game only had two passes caught in the first quarter, but the catches were made by St. Joe defenders, picking off Niles QB Alex Harpeneau twice.

However, St. Joe would be unable to take advantage of the turnovers and turned the ball over on downs. 

The Bears would break the deadlock early in the second quarter when Beaudette ran for the opening touchdown from 4 yards out, after a series of penalties, the extra point attempt was tried from 41 yards out and was missed, but the Bears had the lead at 6-0.

St. Joe would get a chance to expand on the lead after Niles fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, but St. Joe couldn’t convert on the opportunity and turned the ball over on downs. 

The second quarter was nearly over by the time St. Joe would find the scoreboard again.  St. Joe went on a 7 play, 71-yard drive with just under 2:00 to go in the half.   Beaudette threw a pass to Kourtney Cox who caught the ball in mid stride in the endzone and put St. Joe up 13-0 with Steven Yack adding the extra point.  

After waiting out the extended halftime for the Vikings homecoming festivities, St. Joe would extend the lead less than a minute into the third quarter. 

Trevor Dilley’s 55-yard reception set up a 6-yard touchdown run from Ethan Valdes two plays later.  St. Joe grabbed the 20-0 lead just 56 seconds into the start of the 3rd quarter. 

Niles followed with their deepest drive into St. Joe territory, taking the ball down to the Bears 15-yard line, but were stopped short of gaining a first down and turned the ball over on downs. 

After the boost by the Bears defense, the offense didn’t waste any of the momentum of the defensive stand and Beaudette threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Deryk Atkins to give St. Joe a 27-0 lead with 1:18 left in the third quarter. 

St. Joe would close out the scoring on a 23-yard field goal from Yack with 9:10 left in the game, with St. Joe holding a 30-0 lead. 

Yack would miss a 32-yard attempt later but Niles wouldn’t threaten the rest of the way.

With the win St. Joe improved to 5-2 on the season and 2-1 in the SMAC West.   Niles after winning their first three games, dropped their 4th consecutive contest and eliminates Niles from a chance to gain an automatic playoff bid.  The Vikings fall to 0-3 in the SMAC West.

St. Joe will travel to Gull Lake for week 8.  Niles heads to Battle Creek Lakeview.