Niles’ Martell Miller catches a pass and turns up field Friday night against Mattawan. Miller ran for a team-high 88 yards and caught two passes for another 40 yards in the Vikings’ 33-22 win over the Wildcats. (Daily Star photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

By SCOTT NOVAK

Niles Daily Star

Twenty-one unanswered points in the fourth quarter made a winner out of host Niles Friday night against Mattawan in a Big 16 Conference West Division contest.

Spearheaded by a four-touchdown performance by Brandon Partee and a pair of stellar defensive plays from Zachary Fillwock, the Vikings rallied from a 22-12 deficit in the final quarter to snap a two-game losing streak.

Trailing by 10 points to open the fourth quarter, Niles cut the deficit to 22-19 on Partee’s second touchdown of the night, a 2-yard run that capped off a nice drive.

On the ensuing possession, Fillwock recovered a fumble by the Wildcats  and gave the Vikings a short field to work with.

Methodically, Niles worked its way down the field and when Partee scored from 7-yards out, the Vikings had a 26-22 lead following Dustin Wright’s extra point.

Fillwock would come up big on Niles’ next possession after a 34-yard kickoff return by Mattawan gave the Wildcats good field position with just under five minutes to play.

On a fourth-and-six, Fillwock spotted the screen play and tackled the Mattawan running back short of the first down marker to give the Vikings the ball back with a shade under three minutes to play.

“Boy, I tell you what, that fourth down play on that screen, he sniffed it right out and made a heckuva play on that and then he recovered that fumble. That’s what football is all about. Football is ball it about momentum and we had a big momentum turn right there and we were able to capitalize on that.”

Following the change of possession, Niles was trying to work on the clock, but big runs by Partee, including a 7-yard touchdown run, capped the scoring with 1:19 remaining.

Niles turned the game back over to its defense, which despite giving up some yards in the third quarter, shut down Mattawan in the fourth.

Partee’s interception sealed the victory.

The Vikings (3-2, 1-2 West) were fortunate to only be down a touchdown in the opening quarter.

The Wildcats (1-4, 1-3 West) took the opening kickoff and marched down to the Niles four-yard line before the Vikings stiffened and forced Mattawan to turn the ball over on downs.

But on the very next play from scrimmage, Niles fumbled the ball and a play later the Wildcats led 8-0 on a 4-yard run by Joey Cernik and a two-point conversion run by quarterback Mackenzie Dietz.

The score remained that way through out much of the first half until the Vikings put together a drive in the closing minutes of the second quarter.

Partee scored on a 10-yard run, but after the conversion pass failed, Niles found itself down 8-6 heading to the locker room.

The Vikings weren’t down long as to start the second half, Ronnie Jones returned the opening kickoff 85-yards to give the Vikings a 12-8 lead after the two-point conversion run failed.

Mattawan came back with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to reclaim the lead 22-12.

Cameron VanFleet gave the Wildcats back the lead with a 2-yard run and a Kyle Hillsburg kick.

And when Davis DeVries scored again from the 2-yard line, Niles found itself down 10 heading to the final quarter.

Niles used a trio of running backs to pound the ball right at Mattawan using its ‘power I’ formation.

Martell Miller led the way with 88 yards rushing and a pair of receptions for an additional 40 yards.

Partee had the four scores and 73 yards rushing, while Prescott Smith added 50 yards.

“They had a hard time stopping our power running game,” Brawley said. “We just kept going at them. It was tough for them to stop. The kids played hard. The offensive line played well.”

On the defensive side of the football, Jordan Potthoff led the Vikings with 11 tackles. Fillwock finished with seven tackles and the fumble recovery and Partee had six stops and the interception.

Zach Holt also had six tackles.

The Vikings remain at home next Friday night as they entertain undefeated Lakeshore for Homecoming.

Mattawan 8 0 14 0 – 22

Niles 0 6 6 21 – 33

M – Joey Cernik 4 run (Mackenzie Dietz run)

N – Brandon Partee 10 run (pass failed)

N – Ronnie Jones 85 kickoff return (run fails)

M – Cameron VanFleet 2 run (Kyle Hillsburg kick)

M – Davis DeVries (Hillsburg kick)

N – Partee 2 run (Dustin Wright kick)

N – Partee 7 run (Wright kick)

N – Partee 7 run (Wright kick)