CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY - Nov. 21, 2009 - Ogemaw Heights had hoped to play the part of David to East Grand Rapids' Goliath during Saturday's Division 3 state semifinal football game.

But one reason David vs. Goliath resonates through history is that the Davids of the world very rarely win such battles.

Such was the Falcons' fate in their first chance to reach the state championship game since 1997, falling 43-8 to a dominant EGR squad that never gave Ogemaw a chance to pull off what would have been a monumental upset.

"They're a great program," said Ogemaw coach Andrew Pratley. "I wish we'd have given them a better game in the first half, but I'm proud of the way we played in the second half. We didn't quit; we kept battling to the end."

EGR opened the scoring on a 3rd-and-24 play as quarterback Ryan Elble hit A.J. McEwen with a perfect deep ball down the right sideline. McEwen caught the pass without breaking stride and strutted into the end zone for a 6-0 lead and statement of what was to come.

By the time halftime arrived, the Pioneers led 43-0, Elble had 204 passing yards and three touchdowns, running back Kirk Spencer had 104 rushing yards, two touchdowns by land and one by air, and 6-8 tight end / defensive end Colin Voss proved to be as big a handful as his reputation.

By contrast, the Falcons had just 77 yards of offense -- including 61 yards on John Hughes-to-Kyle Bellor pass play.

Throw in a turnover that ended Ogemaw's first possession and seven penalties (including five false starts) in the first half -- all help that the Pioneers didn't need -- and the outcome became apparent all too quickly.

"It definitely wasn't our best game," Pratley said. "And East Grand Rapids played very well.

"We focused our efforts on stopping (Spencer) and make them beat us with the pass.

"They did. With a team like that you just can't stop everything. They have a lot of weapons."

To their credit, the Falcons came out firing in the second half despite starting the third quarter with a running clock. Hughes capped an eight-play, 73-yard drive with a 14-yard scoring run against the Pioneer reserves and Charlie Murdock scored on the 2-point conversion for Ogemaw's only score of the night.

Andrew Vollmer recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Hughes hit Jarritt Orlando with a 30-yard pass that, with a personal foul assessed against EGR, put the ball at the Pioneer 14.

The Pioneers picked off Hughes at the 1-yard line, and rather than risk allowing the Falcons back in the game, re-inserted their starters for most of a 70-yard, clock-chewing drive that doused Ogemaw's last faint hopes at a comeback.

"No one expected to be down 43-0 at halftime," Pratley said. "We told the kids to keep battling. We were going to coach like it was 0-0 and we asked the kids to play like it was 0-0.

"The kids played hard, but it didn't go our way. That's the way football goes sometimes."

Hughes finished with with 133 yards on 6-of-20 passing, with Bellor making two catches for 99 yards. Tyler Brindley led the rushing attack with 36 yards on nine carries.

East Grand Rapids (13-0) plays next Saturday for its fourth straight state title against Orchard Lake St. Mary's, whom the Pioneers beat 21-7 in their season opener. The Pioneers, winners of 19 straight playoff games and 19 straight games overall, have finished six of their last nine playoff games under the mercy-rule running clock.

The Falcons finish the season at 11-2, reaching the state semifinals for the second time in school history. Ogemaw won the Class BB state title in 1997 under the direction of Kyle Bellor's father, Larry. It was also just the second time a Falcon team had won 10 games in a season.

"When we started the season, we didn't really expect to be playing East Grand Rapids," Pratley said. "We thought we'd probably fall into Division 4. But we knew this was a good group. We felt that we had the best-kept secret in Northern Michigan until late in the year.

"I'm proud of what the kids accomplished. I guess you could say it was the second-best team in school history. Hopefully we can take it to the next level."