SOUTH BEND -- Defense and special teams combined to spell victory for the Saint Joseph's football team Friday night.
The Huskies used great play from the two phases to lead the way in a convincing 29-0 win over Riley in Northern Indiana Conference play at Jackson Field.
St. Joe, which got a safety and an interception return for a touchdown Friday night from its defense, improved to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the NIC. The host Wildcats, who were shutout for the second straight week, dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in league play.
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The Huskies, who had not played Riley since a 66-6 win in the sectionals in 2020, won this outing of possible future Class 4A sectional foes on the strength of defense.
"Our defense played great because they've strung together three great weeks of practices," said St. Joe coach Ben Downey by phone Friday night. "By nature, they love flying around and hitting, but they also care about the details of their assignments. Earlier in the year they learned to never take their foot off the gas, no matter the situation, so now they regularly deliver when we need it most."
The Huskies defense not only got itself eight points, but also stopped the Riley offense at the St. Joe 35 yard line late in the first half to preserve a 6-0 lead. The defense also forced a Riley fumble inside the St. Joe 10-yard line in the third quarter with the score 13-0.
St. Joe took a 6-0 lead as Ryder Place hit a pair of field goals from 28 and 25 yards in the opening half. The second field goal came after a blocked punt attempt by the St. Joe special teams.
The Huskies made it 13-0 on the first drive of the final half on a two-yard touchdown run by Franco Biffle. The defense then stripped the ball from the Riley quarterback and it went out of the end zone for a safety for a 15-0 lead. St. Joe capped the scoring as AJ LaSane hit Brayson Hurley with a 12-yard touchdown pass and Kobby Addo added a 60-yard interception return for the final score. Addo was also credited with the safety for the Huskies.
St. Joe bounced back from a 38-17 NIC loss to Elkhart a week ago.
Downey was also pleased with the work of his special teams units.
"Our special teams' units have been a blast to coach for Coach Weldy and me because they know how important that phase of the game is," Downey remarked. "For some guys it's the main way they contribute on Fridays, so they take tremendous pride in their assignments."
Third-year Riley coach Darrick Lee, whose team was shutout for the second straight week, chose to focus on the big picture for his young team.
"We're not into moral victories, but our goal to win the sectional is still intact," said Lee by phone Friday night. "To win the sectional is our goal and we will continue to prep for that these next two weeks.
"We had some bright spots tonight. I thought that our defense played hard.
"The thing is that we had some opportunities that we missed that could have changed things tonight. But that comes with a young team. We just have to execute better, there's no way around that and we will. We will get better from this game tonight."
St. Joe and Riley will both compete in Class 4A Sectional 18 in three weeks. That sectional includes Mishawaka, NorthWood, Plymouth, Northridge, Washington and Wawasee.
The Wildcats finished 8-2 a year ago, but were upset in the sectional by Wawasee.
St. Joe hosts Washington and Riley plays at Adams in NIC games next Friday night.