Ypsilanti's Austin Sander loses the handle on the ball in the end zone after a hit by Saline's Bret Wigal. The Hornets' Austin McBee recovered the ball for a touchdown in a 31-6 win at Ypsilanti's Shadford Field.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

It was more of the same for both the Saline and Ypsilanti high school football teams at Shadford Field on Friday night.

For Saline, that's a good thing. The Hornets continued their trend of playing sound defense and capitalizing on offense for a 31-6 Southeastern Conference road win that kept their playoff hopes alive.

For Ypsilanti, it wasn't so good.

"That's the story of our season," Ypsilanti coach Jason Malloy said moments after gathering his seniors for a lengthy talk outside the schools' locker room. "Not being consistent and turnovers hurting us."

Saline, allowing an average of 15.2 points entering the game, intercepted a pair of passes and forced two fumbles. And they limited Ypsilanti's Austin Sanders, the leading rusher in Washtenaw County, to 52 yards on 16 carries.

"We swarm to the football. These guys (Ypsilanti) were fast, but we feel like defensively we play fast, too," Saline coach Mike Glennie said. "I was proud of that effort. We need to clean up some tackling things, but overall I was happy with the win."

The Hornet defense even got into the scoring act when Austin McBee recovered a fumble in the end zone for a 14-6 lead late in the second quarter. McBee had put the Hornets (5-3, 4-3 SEC Red) ahead early with a 6-yard run on Saline's first offensive possession.