↓ GREEN MACHINE CHUGS ALONG

By: Matthew A. Anderson

The stage is now set. Pinconning defeated Standish-Sterling 28-18 in a NEMC grudge match to stay undefeated in conference play and now have a date next weekend with Ogemaw Heights for the outright conference championship.

To view the Extended Photo Gallery Archive from the Big Game, follow this link - Legends Photo Archives

The Pinconning Spartans did all they could to get things started off the right way in their 2009 Homecoming game against Standish-Sterling and had to dig in even more in the second half to hold on. The Spartans built up a 22-6 lead after two quarters but were faced with a lot of situations on their side of the field in the 2nd half. Standish-Sterling fumbled the first play from scrimmage in the 2nd half but Pinconning returned the favor on the very next play with a botched pitch. The Panthers scooped the ball up and looked to be headed the other way for 6 but the defenders got tangled with another teammate's feet and was tripped up. With 8:18 to go the Panthers punched it in from 1 yard out to cut the lead to 22-12. Pinconning responded with a great drive that ended in a 9 yard pitch and catch from QB Casey Pashak, pushing the lead to 28-12 with 4:33 to play in the third.

On the next drive for Standish they got it down to the Pinconning 9 and faced 3rd and 1. On third down, they fumbled and the Panthers lost 8 yards after getting it back. On the next play, Standish turned the ball over on downs after coming up 5 yards short to the Spartan 13. Standish held on defense and put together another deep drive, this time capping it off with a 12 yard rushing score from Trevor Trombley. The 2 point pass attempt Mitchell McFarland to Cole Walderzak came up incomplete. With 4:40 to go in the game, the Panthers got within 10 but that would end up being the last score of the game.

With 4 and a half minutes to go in the game, the Spartans put together a drive that would make any Coach proud and ate up the remainder of the clock. The heart-breaker for Standish-Sterling came on 3rd and 14, with Pinconning RB Lucas Foco busting off a huge gain right up the gut for first down yardage. It was all history after that.

While Foco and Tyler Espitia powered the run game, Pashak had a huge game through the air with 199 yards and 3 total scores, 2 of them coming on the ground.

With the win, the Spartans improve to 5-1 and 3-0 in conference play setting up a showdown in Ogemaw Heights next Friday night for the NEMC championship. No one outside of Pinconning picked the Spartans to be in this position but after 6 weeks not many people will be picking against them anymore. Standish-Sterling now at 3-3 has their backs to the playoff qualifying wall and has to win out but also has three games they can win, with their toughest coming next week against rival John Glenn.

To view the Extended Photo Gallery Archive from the Big Game, follow this link - Legends Photo Archives