STANDISH-STERLING - Sep. 3, 2009 - An all-around solid performance by the Standish-Sterling football team's defense and two solid offensive drives were enough to lift the Panthers to a 13-6 victory over Gladwin on Thursday.

Other than allowing the Flying G's to score late in the third quarter after a bad snap on a punt set Gladwin up in the Panthers' red zone, SSC's defense put together a second straight near-flawless performance.

"Our defense played another solid game," said SSC coach Paul Walderzak. "(We) shut down Gladwin's offense and the kicking game was excellent except for the bad punt snap, and that can't happen any more."

Trevor Trombley capped a 50-yard scoring drive in the first quarter with a 1-yard run to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.

A second 50-yard drive to lead off the second half, this one taking 6:35 to complete, ended with a 3-yard Mitchell McFarland run and a Trombley's extra point kick for a 13-0 lead.

"Both our scoring drives were good," Walderzak said. "But we are still making mistakes that are drive-killers. We are still heading in the right direction; we just have to get there a lot faster."

Gladwin's score came with 1:16 left in the third quarter after the botched snap gave the Flying G's a first down inside the Panther 20. Cody French finished off the short drive with a 1-yard run.

McFarland led the Panthers with 89 rushing yards on 18 carries and completed 4-of-11 passes for 27 yards. Trombley added 54 yards on 16 carries, while Cole Walderzak caught three balls for 33 yards. Kevin Reeves returned seven kicks or 114 yards and had 25 rushing yards.

Alex Schmidt led the defense with 13 tackles, with Zack Neid adding 12.

SSC (1-1) opens NEMC play on Friday at home against Ogemaw Heights (1-1), a 24-15 loser to Petoskey last Friday.

"They're a pretty good football team," Walderzak said. "Solid defense and big plays on offense.

"I expect it to be a very good football game."