The Pioneer football team took to the field to start the 2024 season on Thursday before an enthusiastic home crowd against visiting Adrian. The Pioneers were looking to kick off the season on the right foot and pick up their first season opening win since 2019 (when Pioneer went a respectable 5-5 on the season).
It didn’t start out well but finished with a ring of the victory bell for a team looking to continue last year’s impressive playoff run and return once again to the postseason. The Pioneers fell behind early – really early – but rallied for a 21-17 victory over the Maples.
Adrian’s Tyler Bruggeman opened the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown that stunned the home crowd. The Maples added a two-point conversion and just like that, Pioneer was down 8-0.
But the Pioneers would answer quickly.
Sophomore QB Cole Heys threw a TD pass to Malek Farha with 6:48 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion failed and Adrian still led 8-6.
Adrian’s Zack Hassan hit a field goal to push the Maples’ lead to 11-6 with 11:44 left in the first half.
Pioneer took the lead with 5:35 left in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Jackson Paul-McDonald. Yumin Jang hit the extra point to give Pioneer a 13-11 lead.
With just 53 seconds left in the first half, Heys tossed a 50-yard TD pass to Farha to give Pioneer a 20-11 lead at halftime.
In the fourth quarter, Heys hit Aaron Medzagoh on a 54-yard touchdown play to make it 27-11.
The Maples final score happened during the fourth quarter when defensive lineman Lamont McKinney scooped up a Pioneer fumble and returned it for a touchdown to make it 27-17.
Heys finished 17-of-21 passing for 250 yards and 3 TDs. Farha, an extremely talented player, had four catches for 135 yards and two TDs. Houston McCoy had an interception for Pioneer.
The Pioneers haven’t won their first two games of a season since 2015 when they reached the playoffs (losing to Saline in the second round). Pioneer will travel to Lincoln for game No. 2 on the schedule. The Railsplitters opened their season with a 10-7 win over Milan. The Pioneers beat Lincoln 21-7 last year.
