Bears take the division lead
St. Joe takes advantage of six Central turnovers.

(St. Joseph) – Back in the 1980’s and 90’s, the winner of the game between St. Joseph and Portage Central won 18 of 20 Big 8 Conference Championships.

St. Joseph hosted Portage Central on a rainy and windy night at Dickinson Stadium. St. Joe and Portage Central would again meet for the lead in the West Division standings.

The Bears didn’t take long to grab the lead. After Central’s opening kickoff traveled into the endzone for a touchback. The Bears scored on an 80 yard touchdown run by Jamaal Jackson less than 15 seconds into the game to grab a 7-0 lead.

As the rain and continued to make the conditions miserable for both teams, the Mustangs and Bears would trade fumbles.

On the Mustangs second possession of the game, the Bears forced Central to punt. The Bears blocked the punt and got the ball deep inside the red zone. The Bears would kick a field goal as Josh Akins was good on a 25 yard attempt to give the Bears a 10-0 lead.

Portage Central’s offense came out on their next drive to cut the lead to 10-7 as Spencer Munson scored from 4 yards out.

The Bears would go back up by 10 points late in the second quarter when Jamaal Jackson scored his second touchdown of the game to put the Bears up 17-7 going into halftime.

The Bears would take advantage of another costly fumble by the Mustangs at the St. Joe 35 yard line. St. Joe would drive down the field in 3 plays as Jamaal Jackson scored his third touchdown of the game to give the Bears a 24-7 lead.

Portage Central got closer again as Nick Capasso caught a 43 pass from Quarterback Jeremy Renda, the extra point was blocked and the Bears had a 24-13 lead.

Central got closer still with 4 minutes left in the final quarter as Jeremy Renda threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Kalman Perjesi, followed by Renda’s conversion pass to Spencer Munson to close the gap to 24-21 in favor of the Bears.

The Bears unable to generate offense and first downs had to punt the ball back to Central with two minutes left in the game. But the Bear defense stepped up and intercepted Renda with 1:22 left and ran out the clock for the win.

In all Portage Central turned the ball over 6 times, 4 by fumble and 2 interceptions. The Bears turned the ball over just once.

With the win St. Joe takes sole possession of the first place in the Big 16 West Division with 3 games to play, The Bears are a game ahead of Lakeshore and Portage Northern, who will be the Bears opponents in the final two weeks of the season.


SCORING SUMMARY

Portage Central  7 0 6 8 -- 21
St. Joseph      10 7 7 7 -- 24

SJ - Jamaal Jackson 80 run (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Josh Akins 25 FG
PC - Spencer Munson 4 run (Patrick Drabik kick)
SJ - Jamaal Jackson 5 run (Josh Akins kick)
SJ - Jamaal Jackson 1 run (Josh Akins kick)
PC - Nick Capasso 43 pass from Jeremy Renda (Drabik kick blocked)
PC - Kalman Perjesi 11 pass from Renda (Munson pass from Renda)

Elsewhere around the Big 16

Lakeshore 21, Niles 20 – Al Stockman Stadium, Stevensville
Niles built a 20-7 lead over Lakeshore, but the Lancers rallied to pull within a point in the fourth quarter and then took the lead when Devon Bailey blocked a Niles punt out of the endzone with 2:21 left to give the Lancers a 21-20 win.
Portage Northern 48, Benton Harbor 0 – McCamley Field, Portage
 Jack Livingston completed 6 of 12 passes for 209 yards and connected for touchdowns of 97 yards and 29 yards with Ben Hutchins, who also rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns in Portage Northern’s 48-0 win over Benton Harbor
Mattawan 28, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 14 – Griffith Stadium, Kalamazoo
Kyle Hillsburg recovered a fumble in the end zone and Addison Web rushed for a 9-yard touchdown run as Mattawan scored the game's final 14 points in a 28-14 victory over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix..
Jackson Lumen Christi 41, Coldwater 0 – Cardinal Field, Coldwater
 Rafe Bellers scored four touchdowns in Lumen Christi’s 41-0 win at Coldwater.  Bellers three touchdown runs came from 42, 73, 15, and added a punt return TD.   Michael Cremeans and Connor Sullivan also scored for the Titans.
Harper Creek 42, Battle Creek Lakeview 14 – Spartan Memorial 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.
Marshall 48, Battle Creek Central 6 – Marshall Stadium, Marshall
Jamar Wimberly had four touchdowns in the first half as Marshall improved to 5-1 on the season with a48-6 win over Battle Creek Central.  The Redhawks also scored on a blocked punt as Dan Geise blocked a punt which was recovered by his brother Dave Geise for the score.
Kalamazoo Central 62, Sturgis 14 – Thomas Stadium, Kalamazoo
Jordan Zwart ran for 123 yards with three rushing touchdowns and passed for 121 yards, including two TD passes, to lead the host Maroon Giants to a 62-14 blowout win over Sturgis.

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