St. Joe Bears Football - Bears 31, Benton Harbor 0

(Benton Harbor) – After missing the first two games of the season and playing limited minutes in the last two games, St. Joe’s senior quarterback Sean Guinane started for the first time this season. Guinane didn’t miss a beat as the Bears defeated Benton Harbor 31-0 at Filstrup Field.

Guinane completed 15 of 17 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns in his first start after an illness kept him out of the lineup.

The story coming into the game was the expected showdown between St. Joe running back Jamaal Jackson and his father, Benton Harbor head coach Larry Jackson. Younger son Jamaal did win the battle, despite his father’s attempt to contain his son. Son Jamaal Jackson ran for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Benton Harbor’s coach Larry Jackson spent three seasons on the Bears coaching staff as one of the Bears assistant coaches under coach Uzelac. Jackson left St. Joe to become the Tigers head coach this summer, after Maurice Burton was not retained as the Tigers coach after back-to-back 0-9 seasons.

The game itself started a little sloppy for both teams. After forcing punts on the first three possessions of the game St. Joe fumbled the ball away to the Tigers, but the Bear defense held again forcing another Tiger punt. After a scoreless first quarter, the Bears took their first drive of the second quarter 80 yards for a touchdown as Jackson scored from a yard out for a 7-0 St. Joe lead.

The Bears would take a 14-0 lead with 1:33 left in the half when Sean Guinane threw his first TD pass of the season to Devonte Jones from 38 yards out.

The Bears got an unexpected break when Chrys Killebrew recovered a Tiger fumble deep inside the Tigers 13 with :07 seconds left in the half. After a holding penalty drove the ball back to the 26 yard line, Josh Akins kicked a 43 yard field goal as time expired in the first half to put the Bears up 17-0.

St. Joe would expand the lead to 24-0 on the first drive of the second half as Guinane completed a 17 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Curtis.

After another Tiger punt, the Bears went on a time consuming 11 play-78 yard drive, capped off by Jamaal Jackson’s 7 yard run to put the Bears ahead 31-0. The Bears defense kept Benton Harbor bottled up the rest of the night as the Bears beat their cross town rival for the fourth straight season and the second straight time by shutout.

Up next for the Bears is one of the Bears biggest rivals from the old Big 8 conference, the Portage Central Mustangs. Portage Central comes into the game at 5-0 (3-0 Big 16 West). St. Joseph last met Portage Central in 2004, as the Bears beat the Mustangs 27-14 at Dickinson Stadium.

Elsewhere around the Big 16

	*Portage Northern 25, Lakeshore 14 – Al Stockman Stadium, Stevensville* Portage Northern scored on a 63 yard passing play from Jack Livingston to Antonio Hutchins on the first play of the game, and then the Huskies racked up 293 yards rushing in the second half as Portage Northern defeated Lakeshore 25-14. Ben Hutchins had a 71 yard TD sprint, and brother Antionio’s 72 yard run set up on of Terry Kerr’s 2 TD runs.
	*Niles 39, Mattawan 19 – Mattawan Stadium, Mattawan* Cameron Sly ran for one touchdown and threw three touchdown passes to David Garner as Niles broke a three game losing streak with a 39-19 win over Mattawan. Addison Webb had two touchdown runs for Mattawan.
	*Portage Central 42, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0 – McCamley Field, Portage* Dan Leighty scored three times and Spencer Munson had a rushing and receiving touchdown as Portage Central defeated Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 42-0. The game was the first of the season for PC Coach Brett Foerster after serving a four game suspension.
	*Harper Creek 28, Kalamazoo Central 7 – Harper Creek Stadium, Battle Creek* Jeff Holm ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns as Harper Creek beat Kalamazoo Central 28-7. Trevor Blattner and Zach Johnson also added TD’s for the Beavers who have won their last three games.
	*Lumen Christi 34, Marshall 0 – Marshall Stadium, Marshall* Rafe Bellers and Connor Sullivan each had two touchdowns as Jackson Lumen Christi shutout Marshall 34-0. Lumen Christi outgained Marshall 303-119 in total offense.
	*Battle Creek Lakeview 40, Coldwater 27 – Spartan Memorial Stadium, Battle Creek* Coldwater pulled to within 28-27 midway through the final quarter but the Cards failed on a 2 point conversion attempt and Lakeview added two late touchdowns to defeat Coldwater 40-27.
	*Battle Creek Central 20, Sturgis 13 – C.W. Post Field, Battle Creek* The Bearcats’ Chris Ridley had 204 yards rushing and touchdowns runs of 91 and 54 yards and Trevin Trevino added a 1 yard score as BC Central beat Sturgis 20-13. Chris Merrill had a 13 yard run and 115 rushing yards for Sturgis.

Photo Galleries

Dorrine Guinane - Vicki Johnson
http://sjhsathletics.zenfolio.com/

Guinane and Jackson lead Bears over Tigers Bears win fourth straight game in the "St. Joe River Rivalry"

Guinane and Jackson lead Bears over Tigers
Bears win fourth straight game in the "St. Joe River Rivalry"