More than championships, defense wins Week-1 games, too. Ask EGR.

What could possibly be a better way to kick off the 2009 football season than at newly built Memorial Stadium, watching East Grand Rapids stick it to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in what was billed by many as a gloves-off brawl?

Doing so in a newly built press-box, avoiding the sporadic rainfall with catered Italian food for company.  I love football.

EGR's AJ McEwen breaks on the ball against OLSM's Gary Hunter | Adam Bird | The Grand Rapids Press

You know who didn’t have such a good time Thursday night?  Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Penn State-bound senior quarterback Robert Bolden, who were soundly beaten by the Pioneers, 21-7, and subsequently had to endure what I’m certain was a dreadfully long bus ride back to West Bloomfield.  While the Eaglets looked like they were going to make a game of it early on, East Grand Rapids’ defense kept on the attack and wore the Eaglets down.

OLSM got out to an early 7-point lead after a 75-yard drive capped off when Bolden snuck into the endzone in the first quarter.  He didn’t really sneak in, actually.  More accurately he strode in behind a ginormous Eaglet line who, when they’re run-blocking downhill, can be dominant.  The flipside of the coin was that that same line struggled against EGR’s pass rush, especially on third-and-long when the Pioneers rushers had the opportunity to pin their ears back.

“Tonight was fun,” said Colin Voss, East Grand Rapids’ 6-foot-8 tight end-slash-defensive end, with a smile.  “We just fly to the ball.  We’re pretty fast on defense, and since we’re not overly big on the lines and we’re not going to push anybody around out here we try to use our speed, stunt a lot, and just use different ways to get to the quarterback.”

Allowing the irony of Voss’ statement about EGR’s relative size disadvantage to pass without comment, the Pioneers did nothing if not get to the quarterback.  The five sacks EGR registered — including one on fourth-and-12 in the fourth quarter, in which Colin and little brother Trent Voss chest-bumped each other in the OLSM backfield, with Bolden feeling anything but brotherly love in between them — could have easily turned into 10 had Bolden not had the presence of mind to chuck the ball away immediately before getting clobbered on a few occasions.

Enter Pioneers’ senior defensive back-slash-wide receiver A.J. McEwen, whose only catch on the night came courtesy of the Eaglets quarterback.  The game tied at 7 with less than 2:00 remaining in the first half, McEwen stepped in front of an Eaglet receiver to snag Bolden’s pass, returning it all the way to the OLSM 1-yard line.  This set up the first of two Josh Drummond touchdowns, which put the Pioneers up 14-7 at halftime and forced OLSM to play catch-up the rest of the game.  Which then in turn allowed EGR’s pass rush to commit to bringing down Bolden.

“Our defense put so much pressure on them,” said EGR head coach Peter Stuursma.  “Our linebackers were getting to the quarterback all day, and our defensive schemes and execution were top notch.  And I’ll tell you what, I’m really proud of (junior EGR quarterback) Ryan Elble, his effort and the way he improvised to keep plays alive for us.”

I wonder how Elble would have fared against EGR’s pass rush?

Pioneers’ triumvirate

The Pioneers demonstrated surprising versatility for a team built predominantly around the running game, particularly for a team trying to compensate for the loss of all-state tailback Joe Glendening.  With senior tailback Kirk Spencer playing the workhorse role, amassing 96-yards on 22-carries, Drummond channeling Jerome Bettis in short-yardage situations and McEwen coming in as a change-of-pace back — one who can change pace, and direction, quicker than most defenders — East Grand Rapids can keep ‘em guessing without ever putting the ball in the air.

Mainstream media coverage

• The Venerable Jane Bos wrote about EGR’s defensive domination for The Grand Rapids Press

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