Niles football wins Wolverine Conference title in 56-18 rout of No. 3 Paw Paw

Published 12:47 am Saturday, October 21, 2023

By Max Harden

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NILES — For the first time in 22 years, the Niles Vikings are conference champions.

The Vikings, ranked No. 8 in Division 4, delivered No. 3-ranked Paw Paw its first loss of the season in a 56-18 Senior Night victory that clinched the Wolverine Conference title. It is the program’s first title since winning the Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference West in 2001.

“We talked all week about being able to make big plays, and we had a lot of them,” said Niles coach Scot Shaw. “We controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part, especially in the second half.”

Just like the rest of the teams in the Wolverine Conference, the Red Wolves were unable to slow down the Vikings’ flex-bone offense. Niles scored eight times on plays of 88, 58, 46, 42, 41, 34, 7 and 3 yards. Niles outgained the Red Wolves 580-233 in total yards and 506-200 in rushing yards.

Julian Means-Flewellen set the tone with an 87-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game to give the Vikings an 8-0 lead. The Red Wolves responded by using a 70-yard kick return to spring an 11-yard PJ DeYoung touchdown run to trim the lead to 8-6. The Vikings scored the next two touchdowns, a 41-yard Means Flewellen run and a 34-yard Paul Hess run, to go up 21-6. 

With 1:14 remaining in the first half, Paw Paw capped a scoring drive with a 1-yard DeYoung run to cut the Niles lead to 21-12 after the extra point kick was wide left. The Vikings answered just before halftime with a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Talon Brawley to junior Sam Rucker to take a 28-12 lead into halftime.

After stopping Paw Paw on its opening possession of the second half, Niles drove down the field and scored on a 3-yard Paul Hess run to make it 35-12. Paw Paw took advantage of a 77-yard Ben Miller run inside the Niles 10-yard line to get DeYoung’s third score with 1:56 to play in the third quarter. The Red Wolves failed on their third 2-point conversion, but cut the Vikings’ lead to 35-18.

As it did all night, Niles responded quickly as Sam Ricker ran for a 58-yard touchdown to take a 42-18 lead into the fourth quarter, which saw Hess find the end zone on a 7-yard run and Means-Flewellen notch a hat trick with a 46-yard rushing touchdown to round out the scoring.

“I think we had big plays in the first half,” Shaw said. “In the second half, we just dominated. They got tired and had too many players playing both ways, and I think we were able to take advantage of that.”

Means-Flewellen had a senior night he won’t soon forget, with eight rushes for 219 yards and three touchdowns.

“I used my speed and my o-line blocked amazing,” Means-Flewellen said. “I give all my credit to my o-line. My offensive line is outstanding.”

“He had a fantastic night,” Shaw said. “He ran well. He’s our leader as a senior. I was very happy for him.”

Sam Rucker tallied six carries for 129 yards, while Hess added 19 for 119 and two touchdowns. Quarterback Talon Brawley completed 2-of-3 passes for 74 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, and Branden Olsen hauled in one catch for 33 yards.

On defense, Alex Cole led Niles with 13 tackles and Means-Flewellen had eight while Brandon Hamilton added seven. Sam Rucker added six tackles, while Dane Asmus had a sack.

Paw Paw’s DeYoung tallied 20 carries for 84 yards and three touchdowns and Miller added 16 for 93 yards.

With the win, the Vikings finish the regular season with an 8-1 (7-0 Wolverine) record as they await to learn their draw Sunday for postseason play. Rematches with Edwardsburg and Paw Paw are possible.

For Shaw and the Vikings, Friday’s win was the culmination of two years of hard work and sets the stage for more goals to be realized.

“Two years ago, when I came here, we said we wanted to play in big games, meaningful games that meant something, and this one did” Shaw said. “At the beginning of the year, we set three goals – get the first game and win the conference, so two out of three are complete. The other is to do well in the playoffs and we’ll see how that fares in the next week or two.”

The announcement of the qualifiers and first-round pairings for both the 11 and 8-player playoffs will take place at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, on the “Selection Sunday Show” on Bally Sports Detroit Extra and its website – https://www.ballysports.com/detroit/. The playoff qualifiers and pairings will be posted to the MHSAA Website following the Selection Sunday Show, and times and dates will be added Monday, Oct. 23. The MHSAA will also announce the order for this season’s 11-Player Finals, to be played Nov. 25-26 at Ford Field, during the Selection Sunday Show.

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