WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT - Sep. 25, 2009 - Pinconning continued to roll toward its first playoff berth Friday, knocking off previously-unbeaten Whittemore-Prescott 48-28 in a non-conference matchup.

The Cardinals, despite playing without a pair of key injured starters -- wideout Cody Foreman and center Brandon Hall -- still put together a solid offensive performance against the NEMC co-leaders, but defensively had few answers for Pinny's combination of power and speed.

Most notably, fleet-footed Tyler Espitia, who rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns on just eight carries.

Espitia helped the Spartans overcome an early 7-0 deficit with touchdown runs of 44 and 36 yards in the first quarter, 25 yards in the second quarter, and a back-breaking 80-yarder on the first play of the third that gave Pinny a 42-14 lead.

"Defensively we felt our game plan was a good one," said W-P coach Kevin Frederick. "But missed tackles and taking bad angles hurt us early and often. We weren't ready for their speed, and it showed.

"Give Pinconning credit, though, they played hard for four quarters and executed their plays."

The Spartans also got a 5-yard touchdown from Sam Bourcier to cap the first quarter as they built a 21-7 lead, and a 15-yard Casey Pashak run early in the second quarter.

Pashak connected with Travis Garbulinski for a 3-yard touchdown pass to close the Spartans' scoring in the third quarter.

The Cards opened the scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Dylan DeBoever to Adam Rumbold. But by the time they scored again -- on a 36-yard Chris Downes run -- Pinny had a 28-7 lead and showed no signs of slowing down.

DeBoever scored on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Dupuis' 1-yard run with 10 seconds left in the game capped the scoring.

Pashak was 6-of-9 passing for 51 yards.

Downes led W-P with 101 yards rushing on 18 carries and completed 3-of-5 passes for 35 yards. DeBoever was 9-of-16 for 97 yards through the air and rushed for 75 yards on 11 carries.

"We were pleased with the way we moved the ball," Frederick said, "but obviously not happy with the outcome."

Pinny (4-1) hosts rival Standish-Sterling (3-2) on Friday, Oct. 2, while W-P (4-1) travels to Manton (3-2).