Defensive stops weren’t coming easily or often for either team on Friday as undefeated Seneca hosted playoff hopeful St. Joe-Ogden.

So when the Fighting Irish got one at their own 22-yard line, clinging to a three-point lead with 7 minutes and 2 seconds remaining, they made sure they wouldn’t need to get another one.

Seneca’s game-clinching drive only went 41 yards, but it burned both of SJO’s remaining timeouts and chewed up all 422 remaining seconds of game clock to salt away the Irish’s 39-36, nonconference victory.

“Just small yardage,” said Fighting Irish leading rusher Cam Shriey, who converted two first downs on that fateful drive and finished with an eye-popping 274 yards and three touchdowns – from 80 on the game’s first snap, 65 and 3 yards – on 23 carries.

“We didn’t need any big plays, no 20 yards on one play. We needed 5 yards, 4 yards, 3 yards every single time. Four times three, three times four is 12, and that’s a first down. That’s all we needed. ...

“It feels really good. Our head coach, Terry Maxwell, this is where he went to high school at. So it means a lot to him, and it means a lot to us.”

Seneca (8-0) took possession up by three with just over seven minutes left by forcing a turnover on downs. A Shriey and Ethan Othon team-up for a 3-yard loss on a third-down wide receiver screen set up a must-have fourth down that the Trojans didn’t get, thanks to a high pass/wide receiver slip on fourth down for an incompletion.

That’s where Seneca took over – a power-T rushing team perfectly built for the type of yard-churning, clock-eating drive that put the win away.

“That was our hope there, as good as [St. Joe-Ogden’s] offense was playing and as hard as it is to stop,” Coach Maxwell said. “When we got the turnover on downs there, that’s our mentality – kill this thing and end it.

“We got some big fourth downs, and credit our guys for hanging in there. We were gassed, had guys cramping ... but a ton of heart from our guys. That, to me, is what ended the game. Just the heart of our kids.”

In addition to Shriey’s huge performance, Othon also broke the century mark rushing with 156 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. QB Gunner Varland (15 carries for 45 yards and a TD), Liam Knoebel (seven rushes for 30 yards), and Brayden Simek (five for 15) accounted for the rest of Seneca’s 520 yards – each and every one of them coming on the ground, as the team did not call a single pass play.

St. Joe-Ogden (4-4) sure did, though, with cannon-armed QB Kodey McKinney finishing 16-of-19 for 234 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. He did rush for three of SJO’s five scores and 53 yards, Wyatt Wertz rushing for 59 yards and the other two TDs. Lane McKinney (seven receptions for 65 yards) and Tim Blackburn-Kelley (six catches for 102 yards) were the senior McKinney’s top targets.

The Spartans led 21-14 in the second quarter after forcing a Seneca fumble and cashing in, 29-26 early in the third, and 36-33 entering a fourth quarter in which they had the ball just 3:10 to Seneca’s 8:50.

Shriey’s 3-yard TD run with 10:12 remaining turned out to be the game-winner.

“Two absolutely contrasting styles, two good programs, and that was a good football game,” SJO coach Shawn Skinner said. “You saw both teams make unique choices, right? Go for it on fourth down, a couple onside-kick choices. I would imagine [Seneca] felt the same way we did. It wasn’t like we were stopping one another. ...

“There at the end, we got them into a couple third-and-longs, but we just couldn’t make a play when we needed to to get off the field. That’s a credit to their offense and their kids.”

Wyatt Biffany forced a key fumble recovered by Othon, and Brady Sheedy recorded a sack for an Irish defense that allowed 385 yards to the SJO offense, but got stops when it needed them.

Seneca visits 0-8 Carlyle in Week 9.