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EGR's Glendening runs over Mount Pleasant
Friday, November 07, 2008
By Kelly Hill
The Grand Rapids Press
EAST GRAND RAPIDS -- Until Friday night, the only time Joe Glendening scored seven touchdowns in a game was on his PlayStation.
Glendening, East Grand Rapids' 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior tailback rushed for 398 yards and seven touchdowns against Mount Pleasant Friday night -- all in the first half. The Pioneers beat the Oilers 61-19 in the Division 3 district final at Memorial Field.
Glendening, who now has rushed for 2,087 yards this season, carried the ball 16 times Friday night, and scored on runs of 58, 34, 52, 52, 2, 70 and 46 yards. His first TD came on EGR's first offensive play and his second came on the Pioneers' third play from scrimmage.
"There were definitely some big holes out there tonight," Glendening said. "The offensive line obviously did a good job. We knew that (Mount Pleasant) had given up some points this season, but we definitely didn't expect this. It is probably more fun to play in close games, but it was pretty fun out there tonight."
East Grand Rapids (10-1) will play Petoskey or Bangor John Glenn in the third round of the playoffs, likely at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Memorial Field. John Glenn plays at Petoskey this afternoon.
After Glendening's first two quick TDs, Mount Pleasant (9-2) answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jarrett Leister to senior receiver Connor Odykirk. EGR, however, scored two more TDs in the first quarter, on a 15-yard, fourth-down pass from Andrew Thompson to Josh Drummond and a 52-yard Glendening scamper.
"We knew their defense had given up some points this year, but we also knew they could score some points," EGR coach Peter Stuursma said. "When we went up 14-0 and they came right back, that was a little unnerving."
East Grand Rapids scored 33 points in the second quarter.
"I am not sure I have seen 61 points in the first half of a football game," Stuursma said. "(Glendening) is the Class B player of the year and he is almost apologetic for his performance. He gives the credit to his offensive line, that's the kind of player he is. Josh Drummond did a nice job of leading the way for him tonight, though."
Leister, who threw for 268 yards in the game, connected with Cody Wesenburger on a 10-yard TD strike in the second quarter and threw a 30-yard TD pass to Odykirk in the third quarter.
"(Glendening) is a very good back and he got some seams and made some big plays," Mount Pleasant coach Jason McIntyre said. "We have not been very good on defense this year. Their whole team is athletic, though. They have athletes at every position. The play when I thought, 'OK, this is going to be hard,' was that touchdown pass on fourth down. It was a great ball and a great catch, but there was our chance."
