Magic season comes to end for Oilers

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BIG RAPIDS – East Grand Rapids High School continues to dominate the Division 3 football landscape.

The Pioneers (13-0) won their 32nd consecutive game Saturday, beating Mount Pleasant 31-16 at Ferris State University’s Top Taggart Field in the Michigan High School Athletic Association football playoff semifinals.

The win also marks EGR’s fifth consecutive appearance in the state championship game at Ford Field in Detroit.

“I’m happy to be here right now,” said Mount Pleasant High School head coach Jason McIntyre. “I’m thinking about these seniors and all they have done for our program the last four years. We’re building – we’re trying to get to where Grand Rapids East is right now. They have tradition year in and year out, and we are getting close and these seniors are a big reason.”

All week in practice, East Grand Rapids head coach Peter Stuursma told the players they had to slow down Mount Pleasant’s run game. And that is exactly what they did.

The Oilers (12-1) did not score until 7:52 was remaining in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Alex Horton scored on a two-yard touchdown run and would add another touchdown late in the fourth, but it was too little, too late.

Mount Pleasant was able to run the ball well, but just could not find out how to stop the Pioneers offense. EGR junior running back David Drummond scored the team’s first three touchdowns in the first half, helping them get out to a 21-0 halftime lead.

Drummond finished the game with 69 yards rushing on 26 attempts while catching two passes for 78 yards.

Pioneers senior quarterback Ryan Elble completed 11-of-15 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown.

“We were prepared for a very fast defense and it was goal of ours to slow down their running game,” Stuursma said.

The Oilers defense held tough in the third quarter, only allow a 35-yard field goal from senior Bobby Aardema. But the EGHS defense held tough, forcing Mount Pleasant to turn the ball over on downs inside Pioneer territory for the second time of the game.

While Mount Pleasant began to show life in the fourth quarter, East Grand Rapids came back with an eight play, 74-yard drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Sam Nystrom.

“We were just a couple big plays from being in the game,” McIntyre said. “We played well overall except for giving up those big plays.”

For Mount Pleasant, it was a tough way to end the best season in school history that included an undefeated regular season, another Saginaw Valley Conference title, district title and the school’s first regional title.

“The rewarding part about this group is looking at the players we lost and the players coming back,” Stuursma said. “They really made their own identity, chemistry, their own quirks and their own things that push them to keep going and make them tick.”

East Grand Rapids looks to continue its winning tradition as it goes for its fifth consecutive Division 3 title in a rematch from last season’s title game against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (12-1). OLSM beat beat DeWitt 41-20 on Saturday.

The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit and televised live on Fox Sports Detroit.