Bears blast defending champions
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(St. Joseph) -- The more things change, the more they stay the same.  St. Joe won for the third time in the last four seasons against Marshall.  Avenging a 40-27 loss in week 1 of last season, with a 37-7 win over the defending Division 4 state champions.

The Bears team graduated a senior class that included four NCAA division 2 football players, but across the field, Marshall lost 20 starters from their 2009 championship season, including most of their coaching staff.  Veteran coach Rich Hulkow took over the head coaching position at Olivet College in the offseason.

The Bears would have to wait to get their first chance on offense until 5:05 remaining in the first quarter as the Redhawks drive aided by St. Joe penalties, stalled at the Bears 27 yard line.  St. Joe then went 73 yards and took 4:08 off the clock as Eddie Montgomery put on the first points of the season for St. Joe on a 1 yard run to put the Bears up 7-0.

Marshall tied the score on their next possession as Everett Woods scored on a 9 yard run with 9:31 left in the second quarter.

The Bears added two field goals on the next two possessions as Josh Akins hit from 39 and 20 yards out for a 13-7 St. Joe lead, which turned out to be the score heading into the half.

St. Joe didn't take long to add to the lead to start the second half, Jeremy Rush threw a 59 yard pass to Bobby Symonds to give the Bears the ball at the Redhawks 7 yard line, Rush would call his own number and reached the endzone to put St. Joe up 20-7. 

Late in the third quarter, St. Joe's defense provided some points as Joel Bergman tackled Marshall's Pary's Armstrong in the endzone for a safety, increasing the lead to 22-7.

The Bears recorded another safety on the Redhawks next drive, a bad snap on a Marshall punt caused Armstrong to fall on the ball in the endzone, giving St. Joe a 24-7 lead.

Two plays later, St. Joe put the game out of reach when Jeremy Rush threw a 49 yard touchdown pass to Bobby Symonds to give St. Joe a 30-7 lead.

St. Joe would close out the game with Sophomore Alex Rutherford's 9 yard touchdown run with :06 seconds left, giving the Bears a 37-7 lead.

The Bears are 1-0 on the season and will face Battle Creek Harper Creek (1-0) on Friday at Dickinson Stadium.  Gametime is at 7:00 PM.


SCORING SUMMARY
Marshall    0 7 0  0 --   7
 St. Joseph  7 6 9 15 --  37

SJ - Eddie Montgomery 1 yard run (Josh Akins kick)
MR - Everett Woods 9 yard run (Jordan Pressley kick)
SJ - Josh Akins 39 yard field goal
SJ - Josh Akins 20 yard field goal
SJ - Jeremy Rush 7 yard run (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Joel Bergman safety
SJ - team safety
SJ - Bobby Symonds 49 yard pass from Jeremy Rush (Josh Akins kick failed)
SJ - Alex Rutherford 9 yard run (Matt Phillips kick)

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Battle Creek Harper Creek 34, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 6
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Portage Northern 42, Jackson Lumen Christi 6
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