Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Niles quarterback Zack Leonard runs for yardage Thursday in the Red Dragons’ 35-3 win over Jefferson.

NILES — The Niles offense lit up the scoreboard.

Then, Mother Nature lit up the night sky.

The result was a Red Dragons’ 35-3 home victory over Jefferson Thursday night at Bo Rein Stadium. The contest was shortened to just three quarters because of a pair of lightening delays. The first delay came with Niles leading 21-3 midway through the third quarter. After the two teams returned to the field, Niles scored a pair of quick touchdowns before lightning again stopped play. This time, with Niles leading by 32 points, both teams decided to call it a night.

Niles scored on its third play from scrimmage to take a quick 7-0 lead. Red Dragons senior quarterback Zack Leonard hooked up with Aleni Fryer on a 34-yard pass to give Niles a first-and-goal at the Jefferson seven. Leonard then finished things off with a seven-yard touchdown run.

Leonard finish the shortened game with a pair of rushing touchdowns. He also completed 10 of 15 passes for 195 yards, including a pair of touchdowns.

Fryer was on the receiving end of two of those scoring strikes. Fryer had touchdown receptions of 52 and five yards. Overall, he had five receptions for 132 yards

“t’s nice to get the win, honestly it was nice to just get out here and play,” Niles coach Jim Parry said. “Right up until that first kickoff, I was worried that we might have the rug pulled out from under us. After everything that we’ve endured throughout the offseason, I think it was a win for both communities. It was great that we were able to come together to play.”

After striking early on offense, it was the Niles defense which helped the Dragons pull away.

Late in the first quarter, Jefferson marched down to the Niles four-yard-line before Kolton Christopher ended the drive by pulling in an interception in the end zone. Jefferson’s ensuing possession ended with a Roberto Merlo pick deep in Falcon territory.

Merlo’s pick resulted in a Leonard four-yard touchdown run to put Niles up 14-0.

Niles led 14-3 at intermission, then broke things wide open in the third. Fryer pulled in a 52-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of play after the break. Leonard and Fryer hooked up for a five-yard TD pass at the 2:56 mark of the third quarter. Noah Derr then capped the scoring with a 57-yard punt return.

“Our defense really stepped up when they needed to,” Parry said. “For awhile there we couldn’t get the defense off the field, we couldn’t make stops on third down. Those interceptions in the first half helped us build some separation.

“Overall, I thought we were vastly out of shape and we need to do some work to play catch-up for some time we lost in the summer (due to a COVID shutdown). We still have a lot of work to do.”

Leonard said he was pleased by the way his teammates responded in the season-opener.

“Our coaches game-planned well, we knew we wanted to come out and hit a couple of deep ones,” Leonard said. “Then, our line was outstanding, our receivers made big plays. Everyone contributed. I can’t be more proud of my teammates.”

Niles returns to action next Friday at Poland. Jefferson hopes to bounce back when it hosts Hubbard.