By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
PORTAGE – Inconsistent offense was too much to overcome Friday night for the Niles varsity football team against host Portage Northern.
The Huskies used a punishing running game to hand the Vikings a 22-8 Big 16 non-divisional loss at McCamley Field.
Portage Northern (5-1) scored a touchdown down in each of the first two quarters to build up a 14-0 halftime advantage on Niles.
Teddy Frommann scored from 3-yards out with 7:17 to play in the opening quarter to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead after Billy Cremean's extra point.
Portage Northern extended its lead to 14-0 when Jacob McMullin connected with Andrew Evans on a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The Vikings (2-4) came out of the locker room at halftime and cut the lead to 14-8 when sophomore quarterback Cameron Sly, making his first varsity start, hit Ben Brandstatter with a screen pass that turned into a 27-yard touchdown.
Niles then faked the extra point kick and Sly connected with Brandstatter again for the 2-point conversion.
That was about all the offense the Vikings could muster against the Huskies.
Niles struggled to move the ball consistently.
"It sputtered and sputtered and sputtered," Niles coach Dan Brawley said of his offense. "Every time it looked like we had something going we would committed a penalty or something would go wrong. We just couldn't get anything going.
Brandstatter was limited to just 85 yards rushing, while Sly went 11-of-23 for 112 yards and two interceptions.
"We asked him to do a lot," Brawley said of Sly.
Niles 0 0 8 0 – 8
Portage Northern 7 7 0 8 – 22
PN – Teddy Frommann 3 run (Billy Cremeans kick)
PN – Jacob McMullin 6 pass to Andrew Evans (Cremeans kick)
N – Cameron Sly 27 pass to Ben Brandstatter (Sly to Brandstatter pass)
PN – Jack Livingston 35 pass to Eric Wilkinson (Livington to Frommann pass)