St. Joseph opened its season on the road with a hard-fought 28-18 loss at Niles. The Bears struck first behind a 2-yard touchdown run from Hudson Corning and later added scores on an Ish Dixon 1-yard plunge and a 9-yard touchdown pass from Caden LeClear to Nate Schmitt. St. Joe’s ground game produced 206 yards, led by Corning and Dixon, while Schmitt paced the receiving corps with 40 yards and a score. Defensively, Isaac Codde turned in a standout performance with 18 tackles, and Dominick Lignel added two tackles for loss. Despite controlling stretches of the game and finishing three-for-three in the red zone, turnovers and a pair of big second-half plays by Niles proved costly as the Bears came up short in their opener
