Clare football bounces back, tops Standish 48-22

By BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

Coming off losses in back-to-back games, the Clare football team was hoping to right the ship on Friday. The Pioneers certainly did that, as they took down visiting Standish-Sterling in Jack Pine Conference action, 48-22.

“Always great to end the week with a win, no matter the circumstances leading up to it,” head coach Steven Spranger said. “Obviously, after dropping two where we didn't play our best, it was nice to shake the rust off a little bit. When we're right, we're able to get the running game going early and wear teams down. That's exactly what we did and look to continue that for the rest of the season.”

The Panthers opened the scoring with a booming 39-yard field goal by Travis Trombley, giving them a 3-0 lead.

Clare responded with a 15-yard touchdown run by Mason Heintz and Brayden Humphrey extra point, and they led 7-3 after one.

Clare extended its lead to 21-3 in the second, getting a Dane Alexander 11-yard touchdown pass to Parker Smith, and Alexander also ran in from a yard out for another touchdown. Standish did score before the half ended though, making it 21-9 at the break.

The third quarter saw Alexander break free for three touchdown runs; with jaunts of 29, 44 and 31 yards and Clare led 42-9.

Standish broke free for a long touchdown run of its own late in the frame, trimming things slightly entering the fourth, 42-15.

Clare added a five-yard touchdown run by Donavan Hoogerhyde to wrap up their scoring.

“I thought the guys coming out of halftime and just having fun and enjoying the moment was great to see,” Spranger said. “We are at our best when we're loose and having fun, in the first half I felt like we were a little flat and you can't play like that.”

Alexander finished his big night with 170 yards and four touchdowns on 13 rushes, and he was three-of-eight passing for 64 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Heintz ran 15 times for 113 yards and one score, and Hoogerhyde rushed five times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Conan Weeks also had 33 yards on two carries and Jacob Halicek added a 19-yard run.

Halicek had two receptions for 53 yards and Smith had the 11-yard touchdown for his lone catch. Humphrey was four-of-four on extra point attempts and Abby Boyd kicked in two extra points.

For the defense, Brendan Burton and Dylan Kruskamp had eight tackles apiece, Gunner West took down six and Halicek and Cooper Weissend each tracked down five. With four tackles was Kage Greenfield and with three each was Smith, Hoogerhyde, Weeks, Talan Heard and Hunter Smith.

Clare (4-2 overall, 2-2 JPC) hosts Shepherd (4-2, 2-2) On Friday. The Bluejays fell to Gladwin last week, 25-14 but they have been playing solid football this fall.

“Shepherd is a very good football team with a lot of varsity experience for being a team mostly of juniors,” Spranger said. “They are a lot like us where they rely heavily on their ground game, and winning first downs will be critical on both sides of the ball.”