(St. Joseph) – The playing surface at Dickinson Stadium got a makeover this summer, the new grass was barely used on the north half of the field in the first quarter as St. Joe beat Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 41-12 at Dickinson Stadium.

The Bears scored early and often, going 59 yards in just two plays, Ryan Haynes ran for 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage, he went the final two yards on the next play for a 7-0 lead just :42 seconds into the game.

The Bears would extend the lead less than 4 minutes later on a 1 yard touchdown run from quarterback Ryan Barlow.  The PAT was blocked but St. Joe had a 13-0 lead.  The Bears scoring drive took just 97 seconds.

Loy Norrix fumbled the ball on their next possession, giving St. Joe’s offense the ball at the Knights 23 yard line. Ethan Valdes scored his first touchdown of the game three plays later and the Bears had a 20-0 lead.  The Bears scoring drive only used 72 seconds.

The Bears would strike again on the first play of the second quarter when Haynes scored his second touchdown of the game on a 9 yard run to put St. Joe up 27-0.   The scoring drive going just 33 yards and 40 seconds.

St. Joe would keep the Norrix offense bottled up and after getting the ball back a Bear field goal attempt was missed. But the Norrix offense again was forced to punt on the following drive.  A punt which was blocked by Trevor Dilley gave the ball back to the Bears at the Norrix 12 yard line.   Haynes completed the hat trick of touchdowns on one play and the Bears went up 34-0.

Norrix would turn the ball over again on the first play of their next drive when Cade Shimulunas forced a fumble, which was picked up by Konner Lavanway.    Three plays later Lavanway scored on a 10 yard run and the Bears had a 41-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Norrix would threaten on their next drive, driving down to the St. Joe 30 yard line, but a holding penalty, sack, illiegal procedure penalty, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty send the Knights back to their own 19 and facing a 4th and 61. Norrix would punt again.  The half would end with the Bears up 41-0.

The second half began with the MHSAA’s 35 point differential rule in effect, keeping the game clock running.   Norrix would find the endzone twice in the final quarter against the Bears reserves.

Haynes, who rushed for 220 yards and a touchdown in the opening game at Kalamazoo Central, ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns against Loy Norrix.  

Konner Lavanway led the Bears with 14 tackles, including 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass break up.

St. Joe is at Portage Northern next Friday for the Bears final game against the Huskies at McCamley Field.  St. Joe has another game at McCamley Field in week 9 against Portage Central.     Northern’s new stadium will be open next year, St. Joe is not scheduled to play there until 2019 when both Portage schools will have new stadiums.

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