Bears unable to capatalize in red zone
Offense stalls, defense gives up the home run ball

(Stevensville) -- St. Joe's offense had no trouble moving the ball in the center of the field, but when the Bears got down inside the 10 yard line, the offense could not find the endzone in St. Joe's 21-8 loss at Lakeshore.

After Lakeshore took the opening drive and fumbled it away as Quarterback Alex Padla's pitch to Robert Shelby was dropped, the Bears Alex Osmar picked up the fumble at the Bears 49 yard line.

Two plays after the Lakeshore turnover, the Bears drove down to the Lakeshore nine yard line on two carries from Eddie Montgomery, giving the Bears first and goal. Montgomery got the ball down to the two yard line setting up 4th and goal. On the next play Jeremy Rush tried to run to the outside and was stopped inches short of the goal line, giving the ball back to Lakeshore.

After two short runs by Lakeshore out to the five yard line, Robert Shelby sprinted down the St. Joe sideline for a 95 yard touchdown and gave the Lancers a 7-0 lead.

St. Joe would get on the board on the first drive of the second quarter when another drive stalled inside the 10 yard line as Josh Akins hit a 22 yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.

The Bears were set up with great field position after Ty Taylor intercepted a pass from Padla and returned it to the Lancer 13 yard line. The Bear offense drove down to the one yard line, but a delay of game penalty forced the Bears into another field goal, which Akins kicked from 25 yards to cut the lead to 7-6.

Lakeshore took the ball down the field on their next drive and increased their lead to 14-6 on a one yard run from John Ashbrook.

Penalties started to complicate matters for the Bears in the second half, as Lakeshore went ahead 21-6 after a St. Joe punt, Robert Shelby had an 85 yard run on the first play after the punt.

Neither offense was able to move the ball effectively in the second half, but the Bear defense forced the Lancers to punt from their own three yard line, but the snap of the punt traveled out of the endzone to give the Bears a safety and made the score 21-8 Lakeshore.

The Bears were unable to mount much more offense as the clock expired, ending St. Joe's unbeaten season with the 21-8 loss.

Shelby the transfer from Benton Harbor rushed for 247 yards and two scores for the Lancers. Alex Rutherford ran for 107 yards for the Bears who were held without a touchdown for the first time in four years.

St. Joe drops to 7-1 and 5-1 in the Big 16 West, setting up a four way tie for the championship. Like last year two of four teams, St. Joe, Lakeshore, Portage Central, and Portage Northern can claim a share of the division win. St. Joe plays at Portage Northern and Portage Central is at Lakeshore.


SCORING SUMMARY

St. Joseph       0 6 0 2 --  8
Lakeshore        7 7 7 0 -- 21
LL - Robert Shelby 95 yard run (Caleb Colp kick)
SJ - Josh Akins 22 yard field goal
SJ - Josh Akins 25 yard field goal
LL - John Ashbrook 1 yard run (Caleb Colp kick)
LL - Robert Shelby 85 yard run (Caleb Colp kick)
SJ - Safety (Lakeshore snap out of end zone on a punt)

Elsewhere around the Big 16

Benton Harbor 40, Niles 28 - Viking Stadium, Niles
Benton Harbor QB Latrell Pryor had three rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown while Dayshun Spears had two scores in Benton Harbor's 40-28 win at Niles. The Tigers broke a 14 game losing streak.
Portage Northern 58, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0 - Griffith Stadium, Kalamazoo
Terry Kerr had four touchdowns at Portage Northern blasted Loy Norrix 58-0. Johnathan Keizer, TJ Simpson, and Vontra' Lassiter had recieving scores for Northern.
Portage Central 51, Mattawan 23 - McCamley Field, Portage
Aaron King ran for 156 yards and two scores and and Kyle Cutler added 105 yards rushing and three touchdowns as Portage Central defeated Mattawan 51-23.
Coldwater 34, Battle Creek Central 12 - C.W. Post Field, Battle Creek
Joshua Adams-Plant rushed for 184 yards and had two touchdowns as Coldwater beat Battle Creek Central 34-12.
Harper Creek 45, Marshall 13 - Harper Creek Stadium, Battle Creek
The Beavers got two touchdowns from Trevor Blattner, and single scores from Connor Bauserman, Kasey Carson, Kody Carson, and Josh Davis in a 45-13 win for Harper Creek. Harper Creek picked up their sixth win.
Battle Creek Lakeview 21, Kalamazoo Central 14 - Thomas Stadium, Kalamazoo
Bryce Hadley scored two touchdowns for Lakeview in a 21-14 win at Kalamazoo Central. Lakeview improves to 4-4 after starting the season at 0-3.
Lumen Christi 48, Sturgis 22 - Trojan Field, Sturgis
Lumen Christi's Michael Cremeans rushed for 290 yards, which was a school record, and scored four touchdowns as the Titans picked up their sixth win of the season with a 48-22 win over Sturgis.