high school football: Saline wins share of SEC Red title with with 53-13 win over Skyline

By Pete Cunningham Sports Director

Posted on Fri, Oct 12, 2012 : 9:36 p.m.

This story will be updated.

Editor's note: The game was ended early with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter after a Skyline player was knocked unconscious during play. The player was motionless for several minutes but he had regained consciousness, could move and had feeling in all of his extremities by the time the ambulance arrived. The player was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

The Saline High School football team came into the season with two main goals: qualify for the playoffs, and win the conference.

The Hornets took care of step one last week, beating Huron for their sixth win of the season and with a 53-13 win over Southeastern Conference Red Division rival Skyline on Saturday took care of the latter.

Saline quarterback Tyler Palka.

AnnArbor.com file photo

Boxscore at MLive.com | Friday football roundup

The victory put the Hornets’ league record at 5-1 tying them for a share of the Red Division title with Pioneer, which defeated Huron 35-6. Bedford defeated Monroe 27-13 to give the Trojans their second league loss.

After returning the opening kick to midfield, Saline only needed two plays to get the scoring started in the first quarter as Tyler Palka found Gage Hammond for a 37 yard gain followed by a 12 yard touchdown run from Griffin Wolley. Saline (7-1) led 7-0 at the just 56 second into the game.

It was the first of three two-play scoring drives for the quick strike Saline offense in the first half. The Hornets had a 36-13 lead by halftime and of their five scoring drives, the longest was just six plays and took up 2:06 of clock.

Skyline (2-6, 1-5 SEC Red) moved the ball well in the first half, with 262 yards of total offense compared to Saline’s 237, but the Eagles were plagued by turnovers with four lost fumbles.

Turnovers reared their ugly head again for Eagles early in the second half, but in a different form. Saline intercepted Askaree Crawford on the Eagles' first two possessions in Skyline territory. Working with a short field, Saline turned both turnovers into points off of a Gage Hammond 23 yard field goal and 23 yard pass from Palka to Caleb Luckett to go up 46-13.

Palka connected with Hammond for a 21 yard touchdown with 1:08 left in the third to put Saline up 53-13, which enacted a running clock for the fourth quarter.

The game was ended early with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter after a Skyline player was knocked unconscious. The player was motionless for several minutes but he had regained consciousness, could move and had feeling in all of his extremities by the time the ambulance arrived. The player was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.