Saline High School running back Garrett Gordon was spent.

His navy jersey soaked through, hair flopping in sweat and face wet with tears -- the joyful kind.

The Saline senior captain had just carried the Hornets -- rushing 34 times for 157 yards along with 117 return yards -- to a 17-7 home victory over rival Pioneer in a Southeastern Conference Red Division football game Friday in Saline.

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"It's probably one of the biggest wins I've ever been a part of in my high school career," said Gordon. "It's great. It's one of the best moments so far in my life."

"Garret is the heart of this football team and everybody here knows it," said Saline coach Mike Glennie. "He's the leader, he's the captain, and they all rallied around him tonight.

"I'm proud of him and proud of the way everybody else played."

Most notably, the Hornets' defense, which held Pioneer's explosive running game to just 96 yards. The Pioneers racked up 42 points in each of their first two games, led by their ball carriers, but Saline's defense had the answer for them Friday night.

"Our young offensive line was just not staying on track with their blocking schemes," confessed Pioneer coach Jeremy Gold. "I have to take my hat off to (Saline), they played a good game. But, the breakdowns are with us."

Despite its shackled running game, Pioneer found the end zone first when Drake Johnson capped off a 10-play drive with a one-yard dive across the goal line with 4 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first quarter. Qasim Sani split the uprights on the point-after to give Pioneer a 7-0 lead.

Saline nearly returned the favor early in the second quarter when Gordon took a punt return 50 yards before Drake Johnson, the punter, caught up and dragged him down.

Minutes later, the Hornets opened their scoring on a 41-yard field goal by Dylan Mulder, cutting the gap to 7-3, where the count stood until halftime.

Plaguing Pioneer were three lost fumbles.

"Our defensive alignments and assignments had to be perfect all game long, and it put us in good positions," said Glennie.

Gordon, meanwhile, put Saline in prime position to open the second half, returning the kickoff 45 yards to plant the Hornets on Pioneer's side of the field.

Nine plays later, seven of those Gordon carries, the Hornets turned from their constant rusher and kept the ball in quarterback Trey Heren's hands for a 2-yard touchdown on a keeper, giving Saline its first lead, 10-7, midway through the third.

After Pioneer failed to counter, Gordon gave Saline its most pivotal first down.

In the final seconds of the third, on 4th-and-2 on their own 48, the Hornets handed the ball to Gordon, who was tangled among Pioneer defenders at the line of scrimmage before lunging forward with a second effort.

When the chain gang laid down the sticks, the nose of the ball was just inches far enough for a first down.

And Saline took advantage of its new set of downs to open the final frame, as Heren dropped back and hit Nick Ostrander in stride for a 50-yard touchdown just eight seconds in.

"We knew we had to do something because they played with 11 guys in the box all night long," explained Glennie. "We went for a quick strike and tried to make a move early. It was great protection, great play action and Nick Ostrander made a great play."

Saline's 17-7 lead was never threatened by Pioneer, which lost a fourth fumble down the stretch.

The Hornets, fittingly, gave Gordon the ball 12 times in their final drive to run out the clock.

"I was thinking, 'Just run hard, run straight,'" Gordon said. "And follow No. 34, Justin Barnes, he was my lead blocker, and I just got behind him and there were just open seams and we kept rolling."

Summed up his teammate Ostrander, "He (Gordon) pounded Pioneer. He led us tonight."

Kaleb Roedel covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 or kalebroedel@annarbor.com.