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NILES — The Niles football team faced off against Paw Paw in a high-stakes showdown for the second straight week and just like last week, the Vikings emerged victorious.

The No. 9-ranked Niles football team wore down No. 6 Paw Paw to earn a 42-14 win in the first round of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 football playoffs Friday night. 

Sam Rucker had eight carries for 115 yards and three touchdown runs and Peyton Gordon totaled seven carries for 113 yards and one touchdown while Paul Hess tallied 20 carries for 62 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Hess led the team in tackles with eight and Brenden Olsen and Alex Anderson each grabbed an interception.

The Vikings outgained Paw Paw 289-181 in total yards. Niles was able to bottle up the Red Wolves’ rushing attack. Ben Miller had 20 carries for 60 yards and PJ DeYoung had 16 carries for 48 yards. Quarterback Gunnar Goodell completed 6 of 12 passes for 53 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The game was a rematch of last week’s regular season finale in which the Vikings earned a 21-0 win to clinch their second straight Wolverine Conference championship. 

“It is hard (to play a team in consecutive weeks) but you also learn a lot from last week,” said Niles Head Coach Scot Shaw. “We knew what we didn’t do well last week and I wanted to improve on that this week and part of that was getting outside and making them run and tiring them out. I think that plan was successful – I think they got tired and they couldn’t catch us.”

The Vikings were looking to continue the momentum into Friday’s game, with Paul Hess (7 yards) and Sam Rucker (14 yards) touchdown runs giving the home team an early 14-0 lead over the Red Wolves. But Paw Paw was able to put together a touchdown drive capped by a 4-yard pass from quarterback Gunnar Goodell to Barron Marinich to make it a 14-7 game at halftime. 

The Vikings emerged from halftime looking to re-establish themselves on both sides of the line of scrimmage. With Paw Paw driving and looking for a score, an Olsen interception on defense led to a 39-yard Peyton Gordon touchdown to put the Vikings up for good. A 4-yard Paul Hess touchdown had Niles taking a 28-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

“He’s a great athlete,” Shaw said of Olsen. “He does things at six seven that you wouldn’t expect a kid that tall to do. He’s got a good nose for the ball and uh, uh, you know, his reactions are very good and he’s a smart guy.”

In the final frame of the game, the Vikings turned to Sam Rucker, whose 48 and 1-yard touchdown runs put Niles up 42-7. Paw Paw’s Goodell found Landon Buhl for a 9-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter for the game’s final points.

“It’s a great win,” Shaw said. “We played a little bit better offensively and defensively as well, but they’re a good team and we’re moving on. That’s all that matters.”

The Vikings suffered a blow when lineman Riley Cowan left the game late with a leg injury but not before firing up his teammates and the home crowd.

“He was having a great game,” “It’s just unfortunate that he gets hurt at the end of a game like that. Hopefully he’s okay. With his recovery and his safety and who knows? Stranger things have happened. I don’t think you’ll see him next week but if we get by next week we might have him again. We’ll see when he gets back from the X-rays.”

Niles will host Edwardsburg, a 28-9 winner over Battle Creek Harper Creek, Friday night in the Division 4, Region 2 District 1 championship game. The Vikings defeated the Eddies 21-14 on the road in Week 8. Shaw and his Vikings are looking forward to the matchup.

“It’s great because we played them over there on grass,” Shaw said. “I think we’re a little bit better on turf because our speed is pretty good, it’s better than most people that we’re going to play. Hopefully we turn it on again and have a good game.”