Thunderstorms and heavy rain filled Houseman Field as the Bengals and Pioneers waited until 8:10 to kickoff.

After punting on their first drive, East Grand Rapids got on the board first as Mason Banbury pounced on a fumble in the end zone on the first play from scrimmage for Ottawa Hills, giving East a 7-0 lead. 

Ottawa Hills and sophomore quarterback Jeremy Glasco showed promise and big play ability in the first quarter, but every time they were putting something together they seemed to be plagued with penalties. Ottawa Hills was able to get inside the Pioneer 30 yard line on their second possession, but 4 straight penalties and a bad snap brought them back inside their own 15-yard line where EGR had a chance to really set the tone. 

East took over on the 15-yard line and ran it for consecutive plays, but the Ottawa Hills' defense held strong and denied the Pioneers a 1st down on 4th and 1 at the 4-yard line.

For the Bengals, it was a matter of deja vu all night. Glasco had the Bengal's threatening drive after drive, but couldn't do enough to overcome big penalties. 

Miscues seemed to be contagious for both teams, but the Pioneers were able to make better use of mishaps. Glasco was picked off by Olsson in the second quarter, but it was EGR giving the ball right back to the Bengals on a fumble by the Pioneers recovered by Dewand Jones. The Bengals then were able to capitalize and punch it in for six on a 4-yard TD run by James Wyrick. The TD run tied the game 7-7 with 4:41 left in the half.

Coming out of halftime East Grand Rapids made use of a botched punt and were able to situate themselves as Salasky booted a 30-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Pioneers a 10-7 edge. 

Carter Masek got in on the fun for East as he came up with a sack on 3rd and short followed by recovering a blocked punt for the Pioneers in Bengal territory. The turnover lead to a TD run by Bryce Henkey and an East Grand Rapids lead of 17-7. Henkey received most of the carries in the down the stretch after an injury knocked AJ Zawacki out of the game in the 1st half.

The Pioneers defense was stellar all night as they forced 3 turnovers and recorded 7 sacks lead by Brendan Oosse (4.5 tackles, 2 sacks).

Henkey scored 2 touchdowns in the 2nd half, a 4-yard rush with 5:47 left in the 3rd, followed by a 3-yard run with 3:18 left in the 4th to put the game out of reach. The Pioneers improve to 2-0 on the season after the 24-7 win.

EGR Notes:

Henkey had 14 carries for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Oosse had 2 sacks, Masek had 1.5, Banbury had 1.5.

The defense held Ottawa Hills to 1/14 on 3rd downs on the night and forced 3 turnovers.