STANDISH-STERLING - Oct. 16, 2009 - Standish-Sterling's football team had heard the questions about its collective heart and desire in a season filled with frustratingly-close losses.

But with the Panthers' season on life-support Friday, they answered the call, using some stifling defensive play to key a come-from-behind 35-14 victory over Suttons Bay that was close until the final minutes.

"It's been tough," said SSC coach Paul Walderzak. "There were some that questioned them, and I think maybe some of them started to believe it. But in the second half I think we showed the kind of heart we have."

The Panthers dominated the second half, holding Suttons Bay to minus-4 yards of total offense until the Norsemen mounted a final drive against the SSC reserves. But the first half was very different, with the Norse building a 14-7 lead.

The tide actually turned on the final play of the first half, when Suttons Bay quarterback David Horton found Elliot Evans for a 13-yard gain. Tyler Bartys, with some late help from Tanner Mitrzyk, hauled Evans down on the 1-yard line to prevent a touchdown.

"That was a huge play," Walderzak said. "Bartys has really come a long way. He didn't play last year at all and has done some nice things this season."

Suttons Bay never got close to scoring again.

Offensively, Garrett Pierce running to the outside and Trevor Trombley running over and dragging tacklers up the middle proved an effective combination, especially after halftime. Pierce's 8-yard run and Trombley's PAT tied the game at 14 with 3:37 left in the third quarter. Trombley snapped the tie with a 16-yard run up the gut with 9:32 left in the game and added an insurance touchdown from six yards out with 3:53 left.

James Bashor forced a fumble with on a sack moments later that Alex Hill recovered for a touchdown.

Pierce led the Panthers with 149 yards on 16 carries, including a 34-yard touchdown run in the first half.

"Garrett had some big time runs," Walderzak said. "He really opened things up for Trevor in the second half. Trevor's had two great games in a row now.

"Our offensive line did a very good job," he added. "Danny Kocot, Derek Fenwick, Ryan Schmidt, Trevor Karbowski and Mike Hinkley may have had their best effort as a complete unit."

Trombley had 78 yards on 14 carries, made all five PAT kicks and made a number of outstanding defensive plays. One such play actually came on special teams when Trombley -- who had kicked off -- raced 45 yards downfield to tackle the Suttons Bay return man on his own 15.

"He's played well all season," Walderzak said. "But he's really doing everything for us now. We pretty much expect that kind of thing from him."

SSC had to overcome plenty of adversity in the first half. Suttons Bay (6-2) took the lead as running backs Layton Korson and Noah Reyhl combined for nearly 200 yards, while the Panthers had a 91-yard pass play from Mitchell McFarland to Cole Walderzak erased by a penalty.

On top of that, the Panthers were missing some key players, such as Kevin Reeves and Ryan Veitengruber, and had others playing hurt.

"We've got a running back playing with a cast on and another kid who really should be getting x-rays," Walderzak said. "It seems like we've been 'chasing' all season. It was finally our chance to catch up, pass them, and move on."

The Panthers (4-4) will need some help if they're to be one of the few 5-4 teams to make the playoff field after next week's games. But for now, the focus is on their final regular-season contest at Benzie Central on Oct. 23.

"That," Walderzak said, "is all that we can control."