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(Submitted)

(Maxwell Harden | Leader Publications)

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Douglas)

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Douglas)

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Douglas)

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Douglas)

NILES — The Niles football team pulled away in the fourth quarter against rival Edwardsburg in the MHSAA Division 4 District Championship game.

Paul Hess scored two fourth quarter touchdowns as the Vikings shut down the Eddies 21-0 to claim their second straight district title.

Niles outgained Edwardsburg 252-219 in a game that was much closer than the score indicates. Hess had 24 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns on offense and Sam Rucker tallied 10 carries for 69 yards and one touchdown and nine total tackles. Talen Bennett completed 3 of 7 passes for 25 yard. Ward Cheney led the team in tackles with 11 and added a sack.

Edwardsburg’s Grant Griffin had nine carries for 43 yards and Grady Ostrander totaled nine carries for 40 yards and quarterback Joe Lundgren completed 1 of 1 passes for 21 yards and added seven carries for 38 yards. The Eddies entered the game averaging 38 points per game.

“Credit to Niles, they made it awfully tough on us,” said Edwardsburg Head Coach Dan Purlee. “They’re a good football team. They played really aggressive and we didn’t execute it as well as we needed to against a team like that tonight.”

Leading 7-0 entering the fourth quarter thanks to a seven-yard Sam Rucker touchdown run in the first quarter, the Vikings defense came up with a stop on fourth-and-10 to take over on its own 30-yard line. The offensive line paved the way for senior running back Paul Hess, who capped a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to put the Vikings up 14-0 with 6:30 to go in the game.

The Eddies took over at their own 30-yard line looking to make it a one-score game before a fumble on the first play of the drive was recovered by the Vikings, who took advantage of the turnover in the form of a 1-yard Hess touchdown to make it 21-0 with 2:51 remaining.

“They battled hard and they battled relentlessly and I thought that they did exactly what we wanted to do,” said Niles Head Coach Scot Shaw. “We played harder longer than they did and I think that we wore them down on the line of scrimmage in the second half after the stops. They got that drive going and we were fortunate enough to stop it. After that we took it down on that drive then we went all the way, burned up some time and scored and put a cushion between us. They’re not the type of team that can come back readily from 21 down in six minutes.”

While Edwardsburg was able to put together drives and move the ball in between the 20-yard lines, the Eddies often found themselves in third-and-long situations that made it difficult to overcome the Niles defense.

“I thought we could move the ball and they were ready to play,” Purlee said. “We didn’t move it as well as we needed to, obviously.”

Shaw was impressed with the play of his offensive line – a group that has faced adversity in the form of season-ending injuries to key players – against a physical Eddies defense. 

“They played well, first of all,” Shaw said of his offensive line. “They came off the ball and we didn’t have many busts up front. I think we were able to do the things we wanted to do and give Paulie some cracks. When he gets a little daylight, he’s pretty dangerous. He runs like a truck. He had a great game and the guys up front made it so.”

According to Shaw, Edwardsburg defense focusing on Rucker and Gordon on the perimeter allowed Hess to have success running the ball between the tackles.

“It’s great and this is the beauty of our offense,” Shaw said. “They were stacked on the outside with three guys outside our end, they weren’t going to let Sam and Peyton beat them so Paulie was able to do that. Talon was to get enough runs that he had to be accounted for. It’s great to have a lot of weapons. It’s just a lot of fun.”

“I thought we had a great game plan,” Purlee said. “I thought we came out and executed it really well but they can hurt you in a lot of different ways and if you make one mistake, you’re in trouble.”

Edwardsburg’s season ends with a 7-4 record. Purlee credits the seniors for their leadership and dedication following a disappointing 5-5 season in 2023.

“They were huge. They were the heart and soul of this group this year,” Purlee said. “This happens every year –  you hate to see those guys move on but they got bigger and better things ahead of them. They’ll be missed, they put in a ton of work but we told the young guys we gotta get back at it and we’ll keep working.”

With the win, the Vikings (10-1) will gear up to face undefeated Portland at 7 p.m. Friday in the Division 4 Regional Finals. The game is a rematch of last season’s Regional which saw the Raiders edge the Vikings 21-14. Portland defeated Hastings 37-14 in its district final.

“I think it means a lot to get back,” Shaw said. “We’ve talked all year about this team being different than last year. Our seniors are a different bunch. This is their team and we want to get back and go a bit further than what we got last year – whether that’s all the way or whether it’s just another game, whatever – we want to get further than we got last year.”

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