By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - In the three games Niles' varsity football team has played so far this season, it seems the fourth quarter has been the deciding factor, win or lose.
The Vikings hosted Sturgis Friday evening and after a rally in the fourth quarter, Niles came through with a 37-27 win over the Trojans to improve its record to 2-1.
In the Vikings first game, it was a fourth quarter comeback against Kalamazoo Central which gave Niles its first, 29-20 win.
Next came Battle Creek Harper Creek, who spoiled Niles' chances of coming back in the fourth quarter on a last minute interception to give Niles a 26-20 loss.
After trailing Sturgis 27-23 heading into the fourth quarter of Friday nights game, the Vikings were able to pull ahead.
With 10:48 left to play and possession of the ball in the Trojans hands, Niles' Jake Groves recovered a fumbled ball and carried it nearly 30 yards for a touchdown. Kicker Blaise Nsengiyumua added an extra point to the scoreboard to give Niles a 30-27 lead.
Another fumble on Niles' end at the 9:23 mark by Justin Henry gave the Vikings another chance to add another touchdown to the scoreboard.
After 15 plays and just over six minutes taken off of the clock, Niles quarterback Jake Messner pulled back for a 20 yard touchdown pass to Nick Etzcorn with 2:41 left to play.
Nsengiyumua was again successful in adding another point to the scoreboard as the Vikings saw their biggest lead of the night, 37-27.
The Trojans had one last attempt to pull ahead, but after only two plays, Alex Zanders intercepted the ball at the 39-yard line to assure a victory for the Vikes.
Lyle Watson, who had 215 yards and 33 carries on the night, carried the ball 38 yards to the one-yard line in hopes of scoring one final touchdown for Niles, but after a penalty on the Vikes' end, Niles was forced back to the six yard line where it ran one last play as the clock expired.
Other than the final quarter, the game stayed fairly close, with the first quarter ending in a 7-7 tie and a 21-21 tie at halftime.
Etzcorn scored the first touchdown for the Vikings 3:57 into the first quarter when he caught a 40-yard pass from Messner.
At the six minute mark in the second quarter, it was Messner who scored Niles' second tuchdown from the one yard line.
Messner again scored a touchdown with six seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 21.
In the third, Groves broke the tie at the 9:54 mark when he recovered a fumble in the end zone to add two points to Niles' score.
With 1:03 left in the quarter, Sturgis' Bo Felt scored a touchdown on an 11-yard pass by Dustin Cox to give the Trojans their last lead of the night heading into the fourth.
Nsengiyumua was successful in all of his PAT attempts for Niles.
The Vikings return to the field next Friday when it hosts Portage Central. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
The freshman and JV teams will play at Portage Central on Thursday.