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Posted on Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 12:19 a.m.

Pioneer passing game complements another monster night by Drake Johnson in 35-14 win over Saline

By Pete Cunningham

Drake Johnson has been the constant in the Pioneer High School football team's offense so far this season, but finding a balance has been a struggle. Especially after starting quarterback Andy Creal went down with a knee injury in Week 2.

The arm of Pioneer backup quarterback Aedan York added a much-needed second dimension to the Pioneer offense on Friday night and the Pioneers opened Southeastern Conference Red Division play with a 35-14 win over Saline.

York was an efficient 7-of-9 passing for 159 yards and a touchdown and no interceptions and showed that he’s an asset in the Pioneer attack.

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"We had a good start and I think we just got more comfortable with every drive and just went from there," York said.

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Pioneer junior quarterback Aedan York was an efficient 7-of-9 for 159 yards through the air. Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

"Last week, in addition to it raining, our starting center was out, he had a 101-degree fever, so we didn't have our starting center and quarterback," Pioneer coach Paul Test said. "(Mario) Suluksana, he was back tonight and I think that made a huge difference."

York had completions of 27 and 12 yards to Dylan Swanson that set up Pioneer (2-2, 2-0 SEC Red) for its first score after a scoreless first quarter, and seemed to spread out the Saline defense. Swanson finished with three catches for 82 yards.

"When we mixed it up, I think it kind of kept the defense on their heels and so we were able to capitalize on that," York said.

Pioneer didn’t by any means win without its star running back. Johnson rushed 32 times for 173 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught one pass for a 41-yard touchdown on perhaps the biggest play of the night.

Trailing 14-0 with 51 seconds remaining in the half, and pinned on its own 20-yard-line, Saline (2-2, 1-1) attempted to drive the field in a hurry instead of running out the clock. After a quick three-and-out, Saline punted from its own end zone, giving Pioneer possession at the Saline 41 with 22 seconds remaining in the half.

"We felt confident. We were open often, I give them credit though, they put pressure on us and we were inconsistent," Saline coach Mike Glennie said. "We were just trying to move the ball and throwing the ball was the option we went with and, you know, you play to compete."

Not fazed by the exact strategy that burned Saline, Test called for a quick slant to Johnson on the first play from scrimmage. Johnson caught the pass 7 yards from the line of scrimmage and out-sprinted the Saline secondary to the corner of the end zone to put Pioneer up by three scores at halftime.

"We don't play not to lose, we play to win," Test said. "We try to play smart, but we're not going to be so safe that we end up beating ourselves, and we felt we could move the ball on them effectively.

"Had we not hit that one pass route, we probably wouldn't have kept going."

Pioneer may have found balance in the first half, but abandoned that approach on the first drive of the second half, with eight straight running plays from Johnson. Pioneer drove 80 yards in 3:15 -- 65 coming on Johnson runs, the other 15 on a penalty -- and went ahead four scores with a 3-yard run.

York connected with Ethan Spencer on the two-point conversion to put Pioneer up 28-0.

Saline answered with an 11-play, 94-yard drive to finally get on the board on its next possession, capped with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Reese Dils to Gage Hammond. But the drive took 5:24 off the game clock, time the Hornets could not afford.

What the Hornets really couldn’t afford was Pioneer running back Zach Davis sprinting 75 yards untouched for a score just two plays into Pioneer’s ensuing drive.

Dils finished the night 9-of-19 for 119 yards and a touchdown and Hammond had 177 all-purpose yards (52 rushing, 29 receiving, 87 kick returns).

Contact Pete Cunningham at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.