Bears defense stands tall in win over Harper Creek
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(St. Joseph) -- With the Bears holding a slim 3 point lead in the fourth quarter, St. Joe's defense made sure the visitors would not see the endzone in St. Joe's 17-7 win over Harper Creek.

Both teams struggled to move the ball in the first half.  Harper Creek appeared to have scored the opening touchdown of the game in the first quarter, but the apparent touchdown was nullified by an illegal blocking penalty, which allowed the Beavers Taylor Rowe to score.  Two plays later the Bears recovered a fumble by Harper Creek Kasey Carson, ending the drive. 

St. Joe went on a 12 play 78 yard drive and took a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter when Josh Akins booted a 26 yard field goal, Akins third field goal this season.

The two teams would trade possessions without scoring the rest of the half, sending the Bears to the locker room with a 3-0 lead.

St. Joe would take the opening possession of the second half to expand the lead when the Bears went on a 9 play, 51 yard drive as Ty Taylor scored on a 18 yard touchdown run to take a 10-0 lead.

Harper Creek would get on the board late in the third quarter as Kody Carson threw a 66 yard touchdown pass to Taylor Rowe to close the gap to 10-7.

Harper Creek would drive in to the Bears territory twice in the fourth quarter, but the Bear defense would prevent Harper Creek from getting any closer to the endzone.

St. Joe would put the nail in the coffin of Harper Creek with 42 seconds left when Jeremy Rush ran for a 37 yard touchdown to put provide the final margin a 17-7.

Jeremy Rush was 5 of 16 passing for 87 yards in the win.

St. Joe will now face the Niles Vikings in the Bears first road game of the season.  Kickoff at Niles is at 7:00.


SCORING SUMMARY
Harper Creek  0 0 7 0 --  7
St. Joseph    0 3 7 7 -- 17

SJ - Josh Akins 26 yard field goal
SJ - Ty Taylor 18 yard run (Josh Akins kick)
HC - Taylor Rowe 66 yard pass from Kody Carson (Chris Testolin kick)
SJ - Jeremy Rush 37 yard run (Josh Akins kick)

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