By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- It's no secret that the Niles football team's main offensive threat is senior running back Lonnie Jones.
But, it may have surprised many people to find out that Niles junior quarterback Jason Rutkowske completed 10-of-16 passes for 114 yards in the Vikings' 34-28 playoff victory over Sturgis Friday night.
Four different players caught passes from Rutkowske in the first half alone. Stacy Caskey had five receptions for 32 yards in the game while tight end Ivery Cross caught a pass for 43 yards in the first half.
Suprise special teams
The Vikings did things a little differently on special teams against Sturgis. Instead of senior Marcus Lawhsea handling the placekicking and punting duties, Caskey was the starting placekicker and Lyle Watson handled the punting.
Lawshea suffered a pulled hamstring last week.
Caskey made all four of his extra point attempts. Sophomore Nick Etzcorn attempted the fifth after Caskey went down with an injury late in the game. Etzcorn's kick was just wide.
Lawshea's status for the Lakeshore game is still up in the air.
Jones watch
Jones had a career-high and record-setting performance against Sturgis as he carried the ball 31 times for 377 yards and five touchdowns.
He now has 2,369 yards on the season and has scored 27 touchdowns and is averaging 236.9 yards per game.
Jones is currently fifth on the all-time single season rushing yardage list in the MHSAA record book.