Blink, and you might have missed a Drake Johnson touchdown.

The Pioneer High School junior running back scored five touchdowns in almost every way imaginable -- a 71-yard punt return, a 41-yard interception return, a 19-yard run and receptions of 18 and 26 yards -- and threw for another while racking up 325 all-purpose yards.

But, somehow, all that wasn't enough. The Pioneers lost 44-42 to Detroit Cass Tech in the showcase game of the Big Day Prep Showdown that lived up to its billing at Eastern Michigan University's Rynearson Stadium.

"I think the game met the hype that everybody thought, with all the skills on both sides," said Pioneer coach Jeremy Gold. "That's a great showing by both teams offensively."

Cass Tech had an offensive weapon of its own in Christian Burks, a jitterbug tailback who rushed for 194 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns.

"I don't know if much defense was played," admitted Gold. "There were definitely a lot of mistakes. But, we'll fix those. We just have to get back to the drawing board."

More coverage at MLive.com: Boxscore

The Pioneers, in fact, had an opportunity to draw up a winning drive at the end of the game. With less than a minute to play, and Cass Tech working down the clock, the Technicians fumbled on Pioneer's 18-yard line with 40 seconds to go.

Two plays into the ensuing drive, however, Pioneer's Andy Creal was hurried and intercepted by Laron Taylor, putting an end to Pioneer's comeback attempt.

"We were trying to get a quick-hitter so we could get down and score a touchdown or at least a field goal," explained Gold, whose team trailed by two. "But it didn't happen the way we wanted it to. They came up with a big play."

Arguably one of the biggest -- if not, the most eye-popping -- plays had come at the end of the first half.

Trailing 28-14, Pioneer had a minute to find the end zone before halftime. Set up by a diving 33-yard catch by Reilly Quigley to put Pioneer in the red zone and two Cass Tech penalties that put the Pioneers on the 3-yard line, Johnson lined up at quarterback in the shotgun formation with seven seconds to go.

After bobbling the snap, Johnson quickly scooped up the ball, shed two tacklers, scrambled back to the line of scrimmage and flung an end-over-end pass -- which was more of a shove than a throw -- over a line of Cass Tech defenders to a wide open Kyle Foster, who was camped in the corner of the end zone, as time expired.

Erik Kristensen's third of six point-after kicks split the uprights and Pioneer was on Cass Tech's heels, 28-21.

"We just have to make the most of each play," shrugged Johnson, who had a hand in every Pioneer touchdown.

"I just went to the holes when I saw the hole," he continued. "Whenever I saw an opening, I just went to the opening and just took it to the end zone."

Johnson did just that from the defensive side to open the second half, picking off Keith Moore on Cass Tech's opening possession and leaving everyone in the dust for a 41-yard return.

"I knew that (Pioneer) would come out and score -- they're a second half team," said Technicians coach Thomas Wilcher. "They make great adjustments. We just knew that we had to keep coming back and responding."

After Pioneer grabbed its first lead, 35-28 with 3:46 left in the third, on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Creal to a slanting Johnson, the Technicians blue-printed a pivotal response.

Cass Tech marched down the field until Royce Jenkins-Stone punched in a two-yard score. Tech, which had missed two previous point-after kicks, went for two and converted to take a 36-35 lead.

The Technicians were back on the board after a failed Pioneer 4th-and-2 attempt on the Tech 43-yard line. Moore provided the score on a 30-yard scramble to give them a seemingly safe two-score lead -- 44-35 -- with 6:19 left to play.

Pioneer responded quickly, however, as Johnson capped off his career-day with a 26-yard touchdown run with 4:52 left. And after Cass Tech broke a couple big plays during its attempt to run out the clock, the late fumble gave Pioneer one last chance.

"There were a lot of opportunities we didn't capitalize on," said Johnson. "There were definitely some plays we could've done better. We just had to get it done, but tonight we didn't."

Nevertheless, Gold is encouraged by his offense's opening performance -- Johnson's, especially.

"You don't want to miss an offensive series with Drake in the lineup," Gold said, smiling. "If you have to use the restroom or get some snacks, you better hold on until we go back on defense."

Gold proceeded to grin, recalling Johnson's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown.

"But he scored a touchdown on defense, too."