Bears overcome slow start to defeat Mattawan
Montgomery scores three touchdowns in St. Joe win

(St. Joseph) -- A week after defeating a ranked Portage Central squad, it's understandable if the Bears came out a little flat against Mattawan with Lakeshore on the schedule the following week.  But St. Joe overcame the slow start and defeated Mattawan 38-3 at Dickinson Stadium on Friday night.

The Bears scored on their first possession of the game when Josh Akins connected on a 30 yard field goal.  It was Akins 5th field goal of the season and it gave the Bears a 3-0 lead.

Both defenses would not allow anything until midway through the second quarter when the Bears went on a six play-54 yard drive, scoring on a one yard touchdown run to put the Bears ahead 10-0.

The Bears forced Mattawan to punt on their next possession and got the ball back with 45 seconds left in the first half.  Instead of running out the clock, the Bears came out and added to the lead.

Aided by two costly Mattawan penalties, the Bears easily marched down the field and Jeremy Rush threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Joel Bergman with 14 seconds left in the half and gave the Bears a 17-0 lead.

The Bears special teams got another score, after the Bears defense pinned Mattawan deep in their own territory,  Bobby Symonds returned the Wildcats' punt for a 44 yard touchdown to put the Bears up 24-0

Mattawan finally put something other than a zero on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter when Mackenzie Dietz kicked a 25 yard field goal that cut the Bears lead to 24-3.

St. Joe would extend their lead to 31-3 when Eddie Montgomery scored his second touchdown of the game on a 43 yard run, Montgomery was the Bears offense on the two play drive that took 53 seconds. 

Mattawan was forced to punt on their next drive, but the snap traveled over the head of the Mattawan punter MacKenzie Dietz, giving the Bears the ball at the Wildcats 5 yard line.  On the next play Eddie Montgomery scored his third touchdown of the game, putting the Bears ahead 38-3.

Montgomery finished with 105 yards rushing with three touchdowns, Jeremy Rush finished the day 9 of 13 for 124 yards and a touchdown.

On the defensive side Davonte Piggee recorded four tackles, and assisted on four more, but Piggee had two sacks and three tackles for loss.

While Mattawan drops to 2-5, the Bears improve to 7-0 and will face arch rival Lakeshore next Friday night in Stevensville.

SCORING SUMMARY

Mattawan      0  0 0  3 -  3
St. Joseph    3 14 7 14 – 38

SJ - Josh Akins 30 yd field goal 
SJ - Eddie Montgomery 1 yd run (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Joel Bergman 11 yd pass from Jeremy Rush (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Bobby Symonds 44 yd punt return (Josh Akins kick)
MAT - Mackenzie Dietz 25 yd field goal
SJ - Eddie Montgomery 43 yd run (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Eddie Montgomery 5 yd run (Matt Phillips kick)

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Portage Central 49, Benton Harbor 6 - Filstrup Field, Benton Harbor
Kyle Cutler 127 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while Aaron King ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns as Portage Central beat Benton Harbor 49-6. Latrell Pryor had a touchdown pass for the Tigers.
Portage Northern 59, Niles 10 - McCamley Field, Portage
Terry Kerr rushed for 234 yards and scored six touchdowns as Portage Northern beat Niles 59-10 at McCamley Field. Brandon Partee rushed for 42 yards and a TD for Niles.
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Kalamazoo Central 34, Battle Creek Central 20 - Thomas Stadium, Kalamazoo
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