COLDWATER — Martell Miller scored a pair of touchdowns and ran for 187 yards on 12 carries as visiting Niles defeated Coldwater 26-13 in a Big 16 Conference non-divisional contest Friday night.

The contest was close throughout the first two quarters as both teams struggled to put points on the scoreboard.

Coldwater owned a 7-0 lead after one quarter of play as Josh Plant hauled in a 15-yard pass from Mitch Galloway for a touchdown.

The extra point from Guilherme Oliveira was good to give the Cardinals the seven-point advantage.

The Vikings knotted the score at 7-7 when Ronnie Jones scored from a yard out and Dustin Wright converted on the extra point.

Coldwater quickly regained the lead s Galloway tossed another touchdown, this one from 18-yards out to Tyler Guzy.

The kick failed, leaving the Cardinals just six points ahead of Niles.

Miller scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 56-yard gallop, but when the extra point failed, the two teams were deadlocked headed into the locker room at the intermission.

“They came out and they (Coldwater) played well,” Niles coach Dan Brawley said. “They improved a lot from last year I can tell you that.”

Miller started the second half the way he ended the first — with a long touchdown run.

This one covered 66-yards and gave the Vikings the lead for good.

Jones scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard run and then Niles turned to its defense to preserve the victory.

“We talked about how we were going to play against them defensively,” Brawley said. “They were able to move the ball a bit, but we kept them from scoring.”

Niles finished with 320 yards rushing compared to just 94 yards for Coldwater.

The Cardinals did complete 7-of-11 passes for 112 yards. The Vikings were 1-of-2 for 34 yards.

Brawley was pleased with the effort his team gave on both sides of the ball and pointed out that going to a two-platoon system is already paying dividends.

“My kids were fresh in the second half and throughout the game,” he said. “This two-platoon thing is going to pay off during the season and it paid off tonight.”

Niles will remain on the road for its second game of the season as it heads to Marshall to take on the defending Division 2 state champions on Thursday night.

Niles 0 13 13 0 – 26

Coldwater 7 6 0 0 – 13

C – Josh Plant 15 pass from Mitch Galloway (Guilherme Oliveria kick)

N – Ronnie Jones 1 run (Dustin Wright kick)

C – Tyler Guzy 18 pass from Galloway (kick failed)

N – Martell Miller 56 run (kick failed)

N – Miller 66 run (Wright kick)

N – Jones 16 run (run failed)