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Sports

Seaholm Football Makes a Statement in Opener

Quarterback John Glazier scored four times to help the Maples win 48-14 on the road at North Farmington.

FARMINGTON HILLS — The varsity football team was nearly perfect in its season opener Thursday night.

The Maples won in impressive fashion 48-14 at North Farmington in both teams' season opener.

New Seaholm head coach Jim Pobursky wasn’t quite sure what to expect in his debut, but he certainly was impressed with his team’s execution to open the season.

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“To be honest with you, I wasn’t sure where we were at,” Pobursky said. “I thought we looked pretty good in our scrimmage, and I thought we did some good things in practice, but until you really start a game, you really don’t what you got. I was really pleased with the effort and the attitude we had tonight.”

Pobursky agreed to coach the team after his colleague and friend head coach . Deane was named the program's head coach after Chris Fahr resigned at the end of the 2010 season.

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Pobursky admitted that the opening minutes of the game were bittersweet. He said his team’s focus out of the gate helped him push past those emotions.

The Maples' (1-0, 1-0 Oakland Activities Association Blue Division) defense put their team on the board by recovering a botched snap on a North Farmington punt. The Raiders went three and out on their first drive and then on the punt, snapped the ball over the punter's head in the end zone.

Seaholm senior Neal Page recovered the ball to give his team an early 6-0 lead.

“The punt was a big momentum changer,” Pobursky said.

And his team never let go of it. Seaholm senior quarterback John Glazier torched the Raiders' defense for more than 180 yards and two touchdowns, plus two more touchdowns that he ran in himself.

The two-year starter gave the credit for his impressive performance to his offensive line. The front five gave him time to throw all night.

“Our offensive line has really worked hard this offseason,” Glazier said. “I have to give all the credit to them. This was probably the best day they’ve had. It really helped me.”

Raiders' head coach Todd Schultz agreed with Glaizer’s assessment.

“They dominated at the line of the scrimmage, and that was the difference,” he said. 

The Maples receivers benefited as well. Five different players caught passes, and the group combined for six plays over 20 yards.

Glazier threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior J.D. Hess in the second quarter. He found Hess again in the end zone with a 27-yard strike at the end of the third.

“North Farmington gave me a lot of short corners, and then they bit on some of those pump fakes, and we just went deep,” Glazier said.

Seaholm was just as good defensively. It swarmed to the ball on every ball, and it didn’t give much up in the run game against a talented group of North Farmington backs. 

“I’m very happy about that,” Pobursky said. “That was our major concern when Nick and I started this back in January. We talked about the defense front and how they didn’t stop the run last year. That was the major emphasis last fall.”

The only real miscue for the Maples was on special teams. It allowed North Farmington's Ervin Jason to return the opening kick off the second half for a touchdown.

“Things like that are going to happen to you,” Pobursky said. “How you respond is going to make or break you and define who you are.”

His team responded with scoring two touchdowns and putting the game away.

Seaholm will be on the road again next week at Andover on Sept. 1. Its home opener will be in two weeks against Lahser (Sept. 9). North Farmington will visit Groves next week on Sept. 2.

Players are already starting to think about next week.

“It’s only one,” Glazier said. “We just have to keep this up for nine weeks.”

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