St. Joseph’s offense exploded on the road Friday night as the Bears rolled to a 51-25 victory over Kalamazoo Loy Norrix. Behind a punishing ground game that piled up 440 rushing yards, St. Joe controlled the tempo from the start. Ish Dixon led the charge with 148 yards and a touchdown, while James Atterbery broke free for an 80-yard score in the second quarter to push the Bears’ lead to 22-0 by halftime. Caden LeClear added two rushing touchdowns, and 3rd string quarterback Ethan Mellott sparked the passing game with a 61-yard strike to Liam McAndrew before tacking on a 33-yard touchdown run of his own
Defensively, the Bears frustrated the Knights’ rushing attack, holding them to just 19 net yards on the ground. While Loy Norrix managed four passing touchdowns in the second half, St. Joseph consistently answered with big drives of their own to keep the game out of reach. Nate Schmitt’s interception return set up an early scoring chance, and the defensive front registered two sacks and 11 tackles for loss. In a game that saw balanced contributions across the roster, the Bears used physicality and efficiency to secure their first win of the season. St. Joseph will now return to Dickinson Stadium next Friday night to host winless Gull Lake.
