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Saline junior Caden Winston fights off a Pioneer to catch one of two touchdown receptions on the night in Saline's 59-7 victory.
10-31-2020 1:26am
FOOTBALL: Saline's Offense Back on Track as Hornets Begin Playoffs
The Hornet attack was back on track as Saline defeated Pioneer, 59-7, to open the MHSAA football playoffs.
Saline bounced back from its only loss of the season and turned in a dominant effort against their rivals from Pioneer - the only SEC Red rival to avoid a loss at the hands of the Hornets during Saline's unbeaten conference campaign.
After watching the Hornets practice all week, coach Joe Palka wasn't surprised by his team's performance.
"I thought we really executed very well on offense - in the run game and the pass game. And then our defense continues to play really dominant football right now," Palka said. "It mirrored what our practices looked like this week, and that's what I'm most happy about. It was like we had a bad week and came out and lucked into some plays. I thought we imposed our will. I'm really happy with that. It's what you've got to do in the playoffs."
The Hornets advance to the Region 1, District 2 semifinal against Ann Arbor Huron. The game should be at 7 p.m., Friday at Hornet Stadium.
The Hornet defense didn't give up a point as the Pioneer's only TD came on a kickoff return in the first quarter. Otherwise, the Hornets were, as coach Palka said, dominant, getting the ball back and putting the offense in great field position all night long. Zach Antal, Carter Smith and Blake Wilson intercepted passes for Saline, with Antal scoring a touchdown on his interception. Joe Raupp also recovered a fumble for Saline. The Pioneers didn't put together a threatening drive until very late in the fourth quarter.
STATS
Saline only needed 303 yards of offense to put up all those points because of the great field position they had all night long.
QB Larry Robinson completed 13 of 14 pass attempts for 80 yards and two TDs. He ran twice for 12 yrds and one touchdown. QB CJ Carr completed 3 of 4 passes for 33 yards and one touchdown.
Cade Winston caught five passes for 22 yards and two touchdowns. Nicholas Walper also caught five passes for 43 yards and one touchdown. Luke Darmos and Eric Peoples each caught two passes and Josh Rush and Nathan Holmberg each caught one pass.
Gavin Lyltle rushed nine times for 94 yards and two TDs. Roman Laurio rushed for a 10-yard touchdown. Rush carried the ball five times for 61 yards. Winston also rushed the ball twice for 12 yards and Blaze Blastos carried three times for three yards.
Defensively, Joe Raup had four tackles, including two sacks, and a fumble recovery. Emmanuel Lupascu made four tackles. Max Miller, Sam Frush and Gino Geherin each had three tackles, with one of Frush's tackles being a sack. Smith, Brett Brett Baldus, Raupp and Miller also each had one tackle for a loss.
SCORING
Saline 3 Pioneer 0. 1st Quarter, 8:53. 70-yard drive in six plays and 3:07. Stavros, 24-yard field goal.
Saline 10 Pioneer 0. 1st Quarter, 2:26. 61-yard drive in nine plays and 4:16. Robinson, five-yard TD run. Stavros kick.
Saline 10 Pioneer 7. Pioneer's #12, 95-yard kickoff return.
Saline 17 Pioneer 7. 2nd Quarter, 11:17. 52-yard drive in seven plays and 2:53. Robinson to Nicholas Walper, 8-yard TD. Stavros kick. 17-7.
Saline 24 Pioneer 7. 2nd Quarter, 7:55. 52-yard drive in five plays and 1:37. CJ Carr pass to Caden Winston, 13-yard TD. Stavros kick. 24-7.
Saline 31 Pioneer 7. 2nd Quarter, 6:53. 16-yard drive in one play and 7 seconds. Gavin Lytle, 16-yard rushing TD. Stavros kick. 31-7.
Saline 38 Pioneer 7. 2nd quarter, 2:49. 42-yard drive in six plays and 2:33. Robinson 4-yard pass to Winton. Stavros kick. 38-7.
Saline 45 Pioneer 7. 2nd Quarter, 2:05. Zach Antal, 9-yard interception return. Stavros kick. 45-7.
Saline 52 Pioneer 7. 3rd Quarter, 8:58. 26-yard drive in three plays and 1:14. Lytle 12-yard rushing TD. Braden Ablauf kick. 52-7.
Saline 59 Pioneer 7. 4th Quarter, 11:34. Two-yard drive in two plays in 1:32. Roman Laurio seven-yard TD run. Robert Webster kick. 59-7.
NOTEBOOK
- The last time Saline and Huron played, it was a close game for a quarter, but Saline exploded in the second quarter and went on to win, 43-19, for its second win of the season.
- On the other side of the bracket, there weren't any surprises. Grand Ledge blasted Kalamazoo Loy Norrix, 63-6, and Holt bested Skyline, 42-19. If Saline defeats Huron, it will be the home team for the district final.
- Saline used three different quarterbacks in the game. Senior Magnus Sexten made his varsity debut behind center.
- One of the largest cheers from the sideline came when Dominic Brown made a tackle at the end of the fourth quarter.
- There was no student section at Friday's game after allowing a student section the two previous games. At previous games, school staff have had some difficulty enforcing social distancing in the student section, and with the rising COVID-19 metrics, school officials elected not to allow a student section to use tickets not used by what was a very small Pioneer crowd.
- Stavros kicked a 24-yard field goal. It was the first field goal attempt he's made this season. He's been money on extra points, missing just one all year. Robert Webster and Braden Ablauf also made extra point kicks Friday night.
INTERVIEWS
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