Struthers edges Niles for 4th win

By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Niles scored the first and last points of the game, but Struthers scored enough in between to earn a 21-19 victory in a Metro Athletic Conference game Thursday night at Struthers High Stadium.
"We earned [the win] with our kids playing hard on both sides of the ball," Struthers coach Gary Zetts said. "If there is a negative to this, it is that after having a two-touchdown lead, we had to hang on."
The win puts the Wildcats one-game behind MAC leader Canfield, which plays at Salem tonight.
Sophomore Jared Sears came up big for the Red Dragons (1-7, 1-3 MAC). He ran for 143 yards on 16 carries, scoring on a 31-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to give Niles a 6-0 lead.
Sears also scored with 4 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the game, on a 46-yard run, that started the Red Dragons' comeback.
Niles miscues
The Wildcats (4-4, 2-1) took advantage of two Niles mistakes to take the lead before halftime. First, Anthony Horvath recovered for a fumble at the Niles 37.
Senior John Mansky carried the bulk of the running game, gaining 25 yards on eight carries, but junior Dan Livesay scored from the 3 to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard. The conversion kick failed, leaving the Red Dragons ahead, 7-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Niles failed to recover and the Wildcats' Ryan Fulton recovered at the Red Dragons' 26-yard line.
Six plays later, senior Nick DeMart scored from a yard out, giving Struthers a 12-7 halftime lead.
Best drive
The Wildcats added to their lead with their best drive of the night (12 plays, 72 yards), finished by a 24-yard field goal by Shawn Machel with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter.
Struthers' final points came with 9:35 remaining in the game, when DeMart culminated a nine-play, 57-yard drive with a 6-yard run, giving the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.
Two possessions later, Sears made his 46-yard run to cut that deficit to 21-13 with 4:43 remaining.
Just 31 seconds later, Niles' Jason Leibert picked off a pass and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. The Red Dragons attempted a two-point conversion to tie the score, but Sears was stopped just short of the goal line.
"We have been right there the last three weeks and were only able to win one of those games," Niles coach Bill Bohren said. "There were too many mistakes, key turnovers. The hole we dug for ourselves became even larger, but [we] fought back and almost overcame those mistakes."
The Red Dragons had 223 total yards, all on the ground, and eight first downs. Struthers finished with 215 yards rushing, 138 passing and 20 first downs. Livesay and Mansky combined for 127 yards rushing.