English to English leads Clare to 28-18 district title

Pinconning (7-4) 18

Clare (11-0) 28

Clare topped Pinconning 28-18 to stay undefeated (11-0) and win the district championship on Saturday at Kelly-Shorts Stadium in Mt. Pleasant.  The two teams haven’t played each other since 1976.

The Spartans (7-4) just finished their best season since their appearance in the state-semis in 2003. Pinconning couldn’t stop the No. 4 ranked Pioneers who totaled 409 offensive yards; Pinconning had 313 yards.

Kris English contributed to the damage by completing 11 of 15 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Cousin Matt English caught seven balls for 121 yards and one touchdown.

Casey Pashak completed 7 of 11 passes for 107 yards for the Spartans. Tyler Espitia led the rushing attack with 68 yards on 12 carries.

Pashak opened the second half with a 64-yard bomb to Lucas Foco to bring the score 14-12, Clare lead.

But it was all Clare from there.

 Clare responded with a 4-yard touchdown run with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter. The cousins hooked up one more time on a 22-yard touchdown pass to give the Pioneers a 28-12 lead.

Pashak scored the last touchdown for the Spartans on a 12-yard run.

The Pioneers were able to win big despite the adversity they had to face during the week.

“The boys are certainly banged up,” said Coach Kelly Luplow. “Some played injured while some played sick.”

Zach Leechman, Tyler Gillis and Tyler Beatty all felt the effect from the flu on Saturday.

Proud of his team, Luplow has little time before he has to prepare his team for Saturday.

“I wish I could kick back, but I can’t,” Luplow said. “The coaches and I are watching film on these guys (Menominee) and making sure that we are ready for them.”

The Pioneers will continue their Division 5 play when they travel to Gaylord to face Menominee for the Regional championship. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.

The Maroons (9-2) came up big against Negaunee (7-4), 48-12.

Sanford Meridian (9-2) 0

Montague (11-0) 35

The Mustangs were unable to stop the defending Division six state champions as they were shutout by Montage, 35-0.

Montague also put up 35 points against Sanford Meridian when these two teams last met back in the 2002 playoffs; Final score was 35-7.

The Wildcats will have a rematch against Iron Mountain this weekend.

Fulton-Middleton (8-3) 6

Beal City (10-1) 25

The Aggies cruised by Fulton 25-6 in the Division eight district championship.

Beal City when almost three quarters without being scored on until Fulton finally answered with a nine-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. The Aggies had a 13-6 lead late in the third quarter.

Jordan Rau scored the last touchdown for Beal City with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jared Theisen.

Kegan Rojas led the Beal City’s rushing attacks with 115 yards on 19 carries. Stone Beckwith followed with ten carries for 48 yards. Theisen completed 5 of 9 passes for 64 yards.

Nate Bellinger led the Aggies’ defense with six tackles and a sack.