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NILES — It was a Happy Homecoming Night for the Niles football team Friday, which used its big and powerful offensive line and stingy defense to dismantle Wolverine Conference foe Three Rivers 49-0.

The win keeps Niles, ranked No. 4 in the latest Michigan Sports Writers football rankings, unbeaten at 6-0, including a 4-0 mark in the Wolverine. Three Rivers, meanwhile, suffered its second straight loss and fell to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the league.

Niles received the ball to open the contest and scored in six plays on a 33-yard TD scamper by senior tailback Alex Anderson. Vikings’ place kicker Michael Matlock then booted the first of his three PATs in the game for a 7-0 lead.

Vikings’ senior cornerback Brenden Olsen recovered a Three Rivers fumble two plays into the Wildcats’ first series that set up a seven-yard TD dash by senior fullback Elijah Norris. A two-point conversion pass failed, but the Vikings’ had increased their lead to 13-0 with 7:29 left in the period. 

Olsen’s recovery was another example of Niles being able to dominate opponents by creating turnovers and capitalizing on its opponents’ mistakes with points on the board.

“Our emphasis was to set the tone and come out and put it to them. In the past few games we’ve come out slow. The whole idea tonight was to start strong. I got that early fumble recovery and from there our offense just exploded. If we continue to make the adjustments we need to then we got this,” Olsen said.

The Vikings’ defense then forced the Wildcats into a punting situation on the ensuring series. But a fumbled snap by the visitors forced Three Rivers’ Brayden Carpenter to pick up the pigskin and try to run for a first down. Carpenter was swarmed moments later and tackled on his own 28. 

Niles scored quickly in five plays with freshman quarterback William Turnbull sneaking in Three Rivers’ endzone from one yard out. Anderson added a conversion run to boost the Vikings’ advantage to 21-0 entering the second quarter.

The next Vikings’ scoring drive covered 70-yards with Anderson getting loose on a 15-yard TD dash. Matlock’s PAT put Niles in front 28-0 with 11:33 left before halftime. 

Niles had two other chances to put additional points on the board in the first half. The Vikings’ drove down to the Wildcat 25-yard line before turning the ball over on a fumble. Matlock also was wide left on a 30-yard field-goal attempt as time expired in the first half.

“We had real good field position the first couple of quarters. I was kind’ve disappointed we didn’t have those two other scores. Up front it was a different story because we were able to do anything we wanted. I’m not saying this to brag, but it’s difficult for other teams to simulate how well we’re going to come off the ball in practice,” said Niles head coach Scot Shaw, who notched his 250th win of his career.

Niles had three ballcarriers top the 100-yard mark in the first half alone: Sophomore Brandon Walsh carried nine times for 138 first-half yards. Anderson added six touches for 102 yards and one touchdown. Norris lugged the pigskin 17 times for 101 yards and two TDs. Turnbull had one carry for a score as well.

It was the third consecutive game that Anderson rushed for big yardage in a Niles’ victory.

“Mainly we had been a second-half team, but lately we’ve been jumping on our opponent early and aren’t that kind of team that starts slow any longer. We’re finally going to put it on teams in the first half and continue that on during the second half,” Anderson said.

While pleased with being a big contributor in the Vikings’ ground assault, Anderson said its all due to a huge offensive line. That group includes guards Chase Brawley and Brandon Hamilton; center Shane Barber, along with tackles Trenton Scott and Evan Williams.   

“I can make a couple people miss on tackles when I’m running the ball, but I can’t really do anything without those guys that are blocking in front of me. I’m just happy to say my linemen do most of my work for me and I just move my feet. I’m really proud of our freshman quarterback who continues to push us and improve himself to get us to more wins,” Anderson added.

Senior inside linebacker Ward Cheney blocked a Three Rivers’ punt that he also ended up recovering at the Wildcats one-yard line at the 9:31 mark of the third quarter. Sophomore Brandon Walsh scored on the next play to put the Wildcats in front 34-0. Matlock’s PAT failed.

The Vikings’ defense forced the Wildcats into another three and out. Niles took possession and drove 58 yards to paydirt with Norris rambling nine yards for the TD and Matlock added the PAT for a 41-0 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

The Vikings would cross the Wildcat goal line one more time with 11:12 left in the game on a 23-yard ground strike by sophomore running back Brogan Lake. Olsen’s conversion run capped off the scoring. 

Junior Braeden Turay added a fumble recovery for the Vikings on a Three Rivers’ punt with 4:02 left in the game.

Cheney had seven tackles in the first half and Bradley Woolverton added a quarterback sack. Olsen and Jayelin Vawter both had three tackles.

“I was really pleased with how our defense played tonight. Brenden got that early fumble recovery. He’s a good player, but I was especially pleased with how well our defensive backs performed. For us to shutout a team like Three Rivers, who I think is a pretty good offensive team, is a testament to how we played defensively,” Shaw said.

“This was probably our best overall game that we’ve played so far this year. We did a lot of things right, but we still have a few things to work on and get ready for Vicksburg next week,” Shaw said. 

Second-year Three Rivers head coach Jeff Awe, who played for Shaw during his coaching tenure at Three Rivers, said the game boiled down to critical mistakes made by his squad.

“We made some terrible mistakes and when you do that against a good football team like Niles its magnified. Niles is a physical and well-coached football team. Our hats go off to them,” Awe said.

Niles will visit Vicksburg next week for a key conference game at 7 p.m.