STANDISH-STERLING - Nov. 7, 2008 - Sanford-Meridian's football team proved to be every bit as fast and resilient as advertised.

But Standish-Sterling's unbeaten Panthers, who nearly saw a 21-point lead get away, made the plays it had to with its season on the line, breaking away in the final minutes to a 54-26 victory and their second straight district championship.

"That's a real good football team," said SSC coach Paul Walderzak. "They were every bit as fast as they looked on film, and (Matt Bowen) is one heck of a running back.

"But we have got a heck of a team that isn't ready for its season to be done."

The Mustangs, who trailed 21-0 in the second quarter and 33-13 late in the third, mounted a comeback the likes of which SSC hadn't seen this season. Bowen's 14-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter capped a 73-yard, eight play drive, and the Panthers muffed the ensuing "pooch" kickoff, setting Meridian up at the SSC 42.

Alan VanNortwick's 13-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-13 to Jason Hockemeyer cut it to 33-26 with 8:10 left.

The Panthers needed a clutch drive. And instead of relying on the big plays that have served them well most of the year, the Panthers drove the ball up the middle, with Austin Collier and Trevor Trombley combining for all but one yard of a 61-yard drive that ended in Trombley's 2-yard scoring run and also chewed four minutes off the clock.

"We needed that drive," Walderzak said. "Austin did a nice job running the show... It definitely came at the right time."

It wasn't over, but the SSC defense did the rest.

Collier's second interception of VanNortwick set up his own four-yard run with 2:38 left, and Jaron Trombley returned a Meridian fumble 42 yards with 1:38 left to cap the scoring.

SSC linebacker / offensive lineman Adam Gulvas was impressed by what the Mustangs threw at his team.

"We hadn't seen anything like that since Week 2," he said. "They were good at what they did.

"We just needed to play our game, which is to play physical, play hard and give 110 percent on every play."

The Mustangs' 380 yards of total offense, including 207 yards through the air, was the most the Panthers had allowed this season. In addition to Bowen's 96 yards on 21 carries on the ground, the VanNortwick-to-Hockemeyer combination, many of their completions coming on slant patterns across the middle, proved tough to stop most of the night.

Hockemeyer caught seven passes for 108 yards. The Panthers did, however, managed to contain speedster Dan Rau, limiting him to one catch for seven yards, though it did go for a touchdown.

Collier was also somewhat contained by the Meridian defense, rushing for 70 yards on 18 carries, though 41 of that came on the Panthers' clutch fourth-quarter drive. But that left plenty of room for Trevor Trombley (15 carries, 113 yards, three touchdowns) to do his work. Casey Potts (six carries, 59 yards and a score) also broke loose for several key runs.

"They did a nice job of taking care of Austin for most of the game," Walderzak said. "But if you choose to stop him, our running backs and wing backs can hurt you. Casey had some big runs at the right times; it was a great team effort."

The Panthers also had some big kick returns, including a 40-yard Jaron Trombley kickoff return in the first half, Potts' 38-yarder to open the third quarter and a 30-yard Potts punt return.

SSC dominated the first 17 minutes, outgaining the Mustangs 172-33, along with Collier's first interception off Alex Schmidt's deflection, abd building a 20-0 lead.

Trevor Trombley's 22-yard run on a fake punt highlighted the Panthers' 53-yard, 10-play, 53-yard drive on their first possession. Collier, who completed 5-of-6 passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, hit Mark Lorence with an 8-yard scoring strike with 6:05 left in the quarter.

Collier's interception and Potts' 24-yard run set up Trombley's first touchdown, a 5-yarder late in the first quarter. Potts' 25-yard run with 7:07 left in the half made it 20-0.

The Mustangs (8-3) got untracked in the final minutes of the half, scoring on VanNortwick's 3-yard run with 2:41 left. But Jaron Trombley's 40-yard kickoff return into Meridian territory set SSC up again. Collier hit Lorence with a 33-yard pass to the 2-yard line, and Collier scored from two yards out for a 27-7 lead.

Meridian struck again just before the half, moving 59 yards on eight plays and scoring on VanNortwick's short pass to Rau with 22 seconds left that made it 27-13 at the half.

A bad snap on a Meridian punt late in the third quarter gave the Panthers the ball on the Mustang 13. Potts' 12-yard run set up Trombley's 1-yard scoring plunge to build the lead to 33-13.

The Panthers -- 11-0 for the first time in school history -- will almost certainly be on the road next week to play Gladstone at a neutral site to be announced on Monday, Nov. 10.

Gulvas said it didn't matter who the Panthers play.

"Whoever it is, they're going to come after us," he said. "We just have to play our game.

"We have our goals. We're one step closer after tonight."

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District Championship: Gladstone 19, Negaunee 0 (Escanaba Daily Press)

Playoff 1st round: Gladstone 48, Elk Rapids 0 (Escanaba Daily Press)