**ARTICLE BY JOSH LONGSTRETH**
Coming off two monumental wins over the last two weeks, the Flying G’s of Gladwin would be looking to see if they could grab another to cap off back to back undefeated regular seasons. A team that has been on a mission, they have stood to task every week. Last week Gladwin would lock up another JPC conference championship and ensure Butch would make his way back to Gladwin. They would be faced with another tall task in week 9 by way of the Standish Sterling Panthers. The Panthers would come in, too, with nothing in the loss column. One would no longer be unbeaten after this one, and Gladwin would let it be known it wasn’t going to be them.
Gladwin would come out firing on all cylinders in this one. They would strike first on an Earl Esiline 33-yard TD scamper. A missed PAT would give Gladwin the early lead, 6-0. Standish would put together a drive that would look destined to put points on the board on the next drive. It would be for not as Esiline would find his way back the other way on an 82-yard scoop and score. The costly Panther turnover would put the home team in a hole early, 12-0.Gladwin would really look to take complete control on an onside kick that would be recovered by Standish on the ensuing kickoff. The score would stay put after one quarter.
Standish would put together another drive that looked like it would result in points. But Gladwin wasn’t having it. Kaden McDonald would intercept a pass in the endzone and take all the way deep into Panther territory. It would be for not though as a penalty was called on the INT return. Gladwin would still have solid field position to start the drive. It was danger zone time for the Panthers and they would respond. With Gladwin driving, the Panthers would recover a huge fumble giving the ball back to their offense. The home team would have life and would take full advantage. Standout RB Jacob Bartlett would get to work. He would find his way in for the Panthers first score of the night on a 35-yard TD run. All of the suddenm we had a new ball game; Standish would cut the Gladwin lead to 12-7. With 1:19 left in the half, the Panthers would grab even more momentum. They would set up shot in Gladwin territory after a blocked punt. A pass interference call would put the Panthers inside the 10-yard line shortly after. It would not matter as the Gladwin defense would come up with a big stop to the drive. Fans of each team could then take a breath as we’d head to halftime. Gladwin would lead, 12-7, at the break.
Coming out of the half, Standish would appear to have something going yet again before the Gladwin defense would stymy the drive. The offense would take full advantage when Nick Wheeler would scamper into the endzone from 11-yards out. A successful 2-point try would give the G’s a little breathing room at 20-7 midway through the 3rd. Things would get chippy between two competitive teams late in the 3rd, we had ourselves a tight one heading into the final quarter.
About a week away from Halloween, Earl Esilline made sure that he made this Friday night a ‘nightmare’ for the hometown Panthers. He would find his way into the endzone again giving Gladwin a six more. Wheeler would add another 2-points on the conversion giving Gladwin a 28-7 lead. It would take the life right out of Standish in this one. Lucas Mead would add another score for the Flying G’s on a 4-yard run of his own. Gladwin goes on to take down the Panthers, 35-7.
Earl Esiline led the way in this one. He would run for 91 yards on just 7 carries to go with 2 TD’s. On the defensive side he would add the fumble return TD to go with 4 tackles. Nick Wheeler carried 11 times for 54 yards and a TD. He would add 6 tackles on defense. Lucas Mead added 64 yards of total offense and late rushing TD. Standish would put up 264 yards on the ground, but turnovers would derail the Panthers chances in this one.
It was everything you could have asked for in a late October game. Reminiscent of a playoff game, stadium packed to the brim, excitement, great weather, and two real good football teams. This one was closer than the score indicates. Gladwin would take full advantage of Standish turnovers and limit their own mistakes. Standish will be the ones left wondering what could have been. They had their chances. That being said, they’ll be fine as they have the look of a team that could make a deep run. They’ll finish the regular season at 7-1 overall. A division 6 team, Goosepoop.io currently has them in a possible matchup with Sanford Meridian. They’ll await their opponent on Sunday.
If you haven’t been paying attention, there’s something brewing in Gladwin. They have the look of a championship caliber team. They showed that on another Friday against a real good Standish team. They will cap of another undefeated regular season, but it’s clear they have their eyes on more. I think it’s safe to say, it doesn’t matter who that first round opponent is. Gladwin will be ready and that much is clear.
