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STURGIS — Niles took advantage of excellent field position in the first half to build itself a big lead en route to a 49-6 Wolverine Conference football win at Sturgis Friday. 

In other league games, Vicksburg handed Three Rivers a 28-24 loss; Edwardsburg held on to edge Otsego 29-26 and Paw Paw shutout Plainwell 39-0. 

Powered by its huge offensive line, Niles, now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Wolverine, enjoyed a 343-145 advantage over Sturgis in total yardage, including a 327-54 edge on the ground. 

Niles’ seemingly endless supply of running backs were instrumental in the win as seven different players carried the football. The Vikings were much more physical up front and were able to wear down the Trojans throughout the contest.

“I thought we did some nice things offensively to get on the board early. Offensively we did what we wanted to and never had to punt the ball. I thought we looked good in the first half except we had some mental errors that we have to clean up like jumping offsides and a little misalignment. Those are things we talked about in our pre-game,” Niles head coach Scot Shaw said.

Elijah Norris, Niles’ 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior tailback. scored the first of his three touchdowns on a one-yard plunge with 9:16 to go in the first quarter for a 6-0 Vikings’ lead. Alex Anderson’s two-point conversion run failed. 

Norris led the powerful Niles’ running game with 13 carries for 131 yards and three TDs. Anderson lugged the pigskin eight times while peeling off 89 yards with two TDs. Sophomore fullback Brandon Walsh added seven attempts for 41 yards and one TD. 

A fumble recovery by Niles’ sophomore Bradley Woolverton at Sturgis’ 38-yard line helped set up the Vikings’ second score. 

Anderson capped off a 38-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard TD scamper that hiked the Vikings’ advantage to 12-0 with 5:04 left in the period. Norris’ conversion run failed. 

After the Vikings’ defense had stopped the Trojans on its next series, Walsh sprinted into the Trojans’ end zone from four yards out with 1:14 left in the stanza. Anderson’s conversion run put the visitors in front 20-0 entering the second quarter. 

The Vikings would add a pair of second-quarter scores and extended its lead to 35-0 going into halftime. 

Ward Cheney intercepted a Sturgis pass to help set up one of the Vikings’ second-period TDs. Norris busted over from three yards out to cap off a 36-yard TD drive with 7:19 left in the half. Freshman quarterback William Turnbull, who completed just one pass, a 11-yard reception to senior tight end Brenden Olsen, ran in a conversion that increased the Niles’ lead to 28-0. 

Anderson added a 13-yard scoring dash with 1:20 left in the half and senior place kicker Michael Matlock booted the PAT for a 35-0 Vikings’ halftime advantage.

Beckett Lamb scored Sturgis’ lone TD on a three-yard rushing play with 6:05 left in the third quarter. Mark Adams’ PAT failed. 

The Vikings scored again on its next series with Norris dashing 54 yards to paydirt with the rock on the second play from scrimmage. His run capped off a 60-yard drive. Matlock added the PAT to extend Niles’ lead to 42-6 with 5:08 left in the period. 

“It was nice to see Elijah break off a long TD run like that. He’s been flirting with it all season. He read the hole correctly then outran everyone. He’s got great speed,” Shaw said.

Senior halfback Dillon Pearman crashed over Sturgis’ goal line from five yards out to score the Vikings’ final TD with 6:49 left in the fourth quarter. Matlock added the PAT for the final margin. 

“We have great balance in our backfield. Alex is a good ballcarrier, Vaughn (Asmus) has really improved and we have two good fullbacks with Brandon (Walsh) and Elijah (Norris). We also have other wings we can put in there when we need to. But what really helps is our offensive line. Those guys block well enough that we aren’t getting touched sometimes until we are five or six yards downfield,” Shaw said.

Shaw was also pleased with the continued development of Turnbull behind center.

“Will is getting better every week and we’ve kind’ve simplified things for him. He’s seen every stunt known to mankind now and he’s handled it very well. He’s able to move our offense and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Shaw added.

Joel Smith completed 5-of-9 passes for Sturgis, now 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the league, for 91 yards. He also caught three passes worth 78 yards for Sturgis. 

Cheney paced Niles defensively with four tackles and one interception. Guy Torres and David Rodriguez added three stops apiece for the Vikings. Brandon Hamilton also had a sack for the Vikings. 

“Our defense played pretty well tonight. We gave up one long pass play out on the edge but for the most part they didn’t get much else on us. Now we have a big two weeks coming up with games against Three Rivers and Vicksburg,” Shaw said.

Niles hosts Three Rivers next Friday at 7 p.m. for the Vikings’ annual Homecoming Game.