Dewey Milan (80) gets a lift in celebration after his game-clinching interception in the final seconds of Friday's 33-22 SSC victory over Ogemaw Heights.
Kelvin Page makes a grab in the second half as the Falcons tried to scratch their way back into the game.
Brent Baker
Ashton Gulvas (above) and Austin Collier proved a deadly combination against Ogemaw Heights on Friday. Collier completed 4-of-7 passes, including three for 133 yards and three touchdowns to Gulvas

STANDISH-STERLING - Sept. 28, 2007 - If there has been a consistent theme through this year's knock-down, drag-out North East Michigan Conference football race, it's that you'd better bring your best game with you every week if you're to beat the other contenders.

Standish-Sterling did that on Friday. Ogemaw Heights didn't. The Panthers burst out to a shocking 33-8 lead over the previously unbeaten Falcons and held on for a 33-22 victory that created a three-way tie atop the NEMC between the Panthers, Falcons and Tawas Area with one week to go in the league season.

"I'd only seen Ogemaw Heights on film, so I don't know how close that was to their best," said Standish-Sterling coach Paul Walderzak. "But I can say that that was pretty doggone close to our best."

The Falcons, who committed five turnovers and couldn't contain the Panthers' passing game, didn't look like the dominant squad that ripped John Glenn the week before.

"We've been preaching about turnovers all year long," said Ogemaw coach Andrew Pratley. "We've done a good job in winning the turnover battle the first five weeks, but we didn't tonight.

"The other big difference in the game was that we didn't make plays in the red zone. Their kids did."

After a first-quarter tug-of-war that saw both teams move the ball but come up empty, the Panthers struck twice in 40 seconds midway through the second quarter to change the tenor of the game.

After forcing an Ogemaw punt, Austin Collier hit Ashton Gulvas down the right sideline with a deep pass that Gulvas caught over a Falcon defender, then shook off the tackle and juked his way past another defender on his way to a 77-yard touchdown. Jacob Goodroe's extra point made it 7-0 with 7:57 before the half.

"Ashton was phenomenal," Walderzak said. Indeed, Gulvas caught three passes on the night -- all for touchdowns totaling 133 yards. "We were hoping to hurt Ogemaw off the edge and that our short passing game would be effective. But our pass protection (offensive linemen Derek Fenwick, Ryan Proulx, Mark Stawowy, Brett Blakley, Brian Kruzell, Goodroe and fullback Brad Bialobrzeski) was great, guys ran good patterns and Austin was excellent with his throws."

On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers pooched the ball about 30 yards downfield. Ogemaw played it as if it were a punt, and Jason Kandal jumped on it to retain the ball for SSC -- technically not a turnover, but it gave the Panthers possession on the Falcon 23.

Two plays later, Collier weaved his way those 23 yards for another SSC score.

The Falcons, who actually outgained SSC 421-306 for the game, drove to the Panther 3-yard line in the final seconds of the half, but Adam Gulvas picked off a pass in the end zone to preserve the 14-0 lead into halftime.

It didn't get any better for the Falcons in the third quarter as Kandal picked off another pass on the third play of the second half and returned it to the Ogemaw 12. The Falcon defense stiffened for three plays and had the Panthers backed into a 4th-and-25 hole, but Collier hit Ashton Gulvas on a slant across the middle for a 27-yard touchdown strike.

It's hard to say at that point which side of the standing-room-only crowd was in a deeper state of shock.

Ogemaw responded with a quick six-play drive, with Michael Noffsinger breaking loose for a 33-yard touchdown run that got the Falcons back in it. But SSC stayed on the ground for seven plays, with Trevor Trombley picking up a couple of first downs on long runs, to set up Collier's third touchdown pass to Gulvas, this one from 29 yards out. Gulvas then caught another pass -- this one on an interception -- and returned it from the SSC 20 to the Ogemaw 6 to set up Collier's 11-yard touchdown run on the final play of the third quarter for a 33-8 lead.

The Falcons made it interesting before going down, advancing inside the Ogemaw 20-yard line four times in the fourth quarter. Two of those drives resulted in scores -- Trevor Zettel ran it in from six yards out with 5:51 left and after an SSC fumble, Kevin O'Neil connected with Josh Jameson on a 10-yard pass with 4:36 left. O'Neil, who finished 22-of-45 for 261 yards, including 13-of-26 for 145 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

But on the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Falcons lost a chance to score when Mark Lorence intercepted a pass on the SSC 10-yard line. And as things got frantic in the final three minutes, Ogemaw advanced to the 9-yard line before coming up empty, with one dropped pass in the end zone and defensive plays by Dewey Milan and Casey Potts to preserve the lead.

"We had a couple of scores in the fourth quarter," Pratley said. "If we catch the ball in the end zone we have a chance, down six with two time-outs left.

"The defense really picked it up and made some plays to help us get back in it."

The Panthers took a safety on fourth down with 29 seconds left to dig themselves out of a field position hole, and Milan's interception on Ogemaw's final desperation drive ended it.

"We need to stay focused on our goals," Pratley said. "If there's a good to come from a loss it gets you refocused, and we'll have to be ready if we're going to take care of business in Tawas."

The Falcons (5-1, 3-1 NEMC) and Tawas (5-1, 3-1) each need a win next week to claim at least a share of the league title.

Noffsinger led the Falcons in rushing with 113 yards on 19 carries, with Zettel adding 98 yards on 10 carries. Alex Rose had 74 receiving yards on five catches and Noffsinger caught six passes for 47 yards. Zettel was in on 10 tackles and Carl Worthy nine for the Falcon defense.

Collier finished 4--of-7 passing for 185 yards and had 58 yards on 20 carries, with Trombley adding 56 yards on eight carries and one catch for 46 yards. Defensively, Adam Gulvas was in on 18 tackles, Dewey Milan had 17, Jesse Potts had 13 and Kandal had 11.

SSC (5-1, 3-1) hosts Oscoda (0-6, 0-4) for its homecoming game next week with a win guaranteeing a share of its first NEMC title since the Panthers shared it with Pinconning in 1991, which was also the last time SSC beat Ogemaw. It's also the first time the Panthers have beaten both the Falcons and John Glenn (which joined the NEMC in 1993) in the same season.

"Teams this year have had some letdowns after big wins," Walderzak said. "I don't think that will be a problem for us this week. We've got one more week left in the conference, and after that we hope to do some good things in our final games and in the playoffs."