St. Joseph’s milestone 1,000th football game turned into a night of resilience and late-game fireworks, even if the comeback fell just short in a 42-36 loss at No. 8 Portage Northern. The Bears fell behind 26-0 midway through the third quarter as the Huskies’ powerful ground game — led by Keniel Ortiz and Aireus Jackson — controlled the early tempo. St. Joe’s offense sputtered through two and a half quarters with turnovers and stalled drives, but the Bears’ faithful saw history being written in determination as senior Ish Dixon finally broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run late in the third to spark life.

From there, the Bears nearly pulled off one of their most dramatic rallies in recent memory. Dixon added a 14-yard scoring run early in the fourth, then powered a 16-play, 72-yard march capped by a 3-yard touchdown with Brayden Malone adding the two-point conversion. After an onside kick recovery, Dixon — now at quarterback — found Nate Schmitt for a 29-yard strike to make it 34-28 with just 1:18 remaining. Portage Northern answered with a lightning-quick 40-yard touchdown from Jackson to push the margin back to 42-28, but St. Joe refused to quit, racing 60 yards in four plays and getting a 28-yard touchdown pass from Caden LeClear to Jace Hopkins with 14 seconds left to pull within six.

Despite outgaining Portage Northern 399-373 in total offense and racking up 25 first downs to the Huskies’ 16, the Bears couldn’t quite complete the comeback in their historic night. Dixon finished with 111 rushing yards and three touchdowns while also throwing for a score, and Malone churned out 99 rushing yards as St. Joseph controlled long stretches late (11-for-18 on third down). But Ortiz (211 yards, three TDs) and Jackson (102 yards, three TDs) were just enough for the Huskies to spoil the Bears’ 1,000th game celebration. St. Joe, now 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the SMAC, will regroup and look to turn the page on its second 1,000 games  next week back at Dickinson Stadium against 2-4 Mattawan, who defeated Lakeshore 42-31