Led by its passing attack last Friday, the Niles football team rolled past Benton Harbor, 50-7, to improve to 3-0 on the season.

It’s the first time since 1985 that the Niles football program has started the season with three straight wins.

Vikings starting quarterback Alex Harpenau completed 21-of-40 passes for 402 yards with four touchdowns. Reserve quarterback Joe Avance completed two passes for 25 yards in the third quarter.

On the receiving end of many of those passes was Ra’Quon Glenn, who caught 10 passes for 151 yards with two touchdowns. Warren Smith added five catches for 124 yards, while Sean Craig had four receptions for 90 yards.

“It’s a good feeling for the guys,” Niles football coach Antwon Jones said about the 3-0 start. “But we’ve got to keep it in perspective. We know we didn’t play our best game tonight. We’ve got to get better. We’re taking it one game at a time and trying to get the program turned around in the right direction.”

Jones couldn’t have been happy about his team’s 35 yards rushing and nine penalties for 79 yards. Benton Harbor, which fell to 0-3 and extended its losing streak to 13 games, scored its first touchdown of the season.

Defensively, Niles got two interceptions from Fredrick Kemp. Kemp returned one of the interceptions 32 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings also got an interception from Smith and Glenn. Jordon Ham recorded a sack and a safety when he tackled Benton Harbor running back Micah Goss in the end zone.

“Being greedy, we gave up one (touchdown),” Jones said. “Our kids will hear about that for awhile. But our defense has been playing great. (Assistant coach) Weston Lambert has done a great job of getting our defense to play at a different level.”

 

Benton Harbor          0          7          0          0 — 7

Niles                            9          20        14          7 — 50

N – Ra’Quon Glenn 4 pass from Alex Harpenau (Jaycee Myer kick)

N – Safety

N – David Kennedy 11 pass from Harpenau (Myer kick)

N – Avance 39 pass from Harpenau (Myer kick)

N – Warren Smith 1 run (kick failed)

B – Jaton Gunn 30 pass from Allante Coates (Mike Jones kick)

N – Glenn 24 pass from Harpenau (Jason Echeverria kick)

N – Fredrick Kemp 32 interception return (Echeverria kick)

N – Adam Langmeyer 2 run (Echeverria kick)