Pine River falls to Berrien Springs

LEROY  —  Pine River will take a 6-3 record into the Division 6 football playoffs but coach Terry Martin and his players are confident of strong postseason success.

The regular season ended with losses to Calvin Christian (30-29) and Berrien Springs (49-14), a pair of nonleague foes.

“These last two teams were very formidable opponents,” Pine River coach Terry Martin said. “We came away healthy and it was pretty good experience. I don’t think those two losses slow us down at all.”

Tristen Nelson and Mason Powell had rushing touchdowns against Berrien Spirngs (6-2).

“They’ve got a lot of depth and they kind of grind it on you,” Martin said. “It’s one of the only times all year I thought our kids got out played athletically. Their fullback ran the ball hard.”

It was 21-14 at halftime and 28-14 after the third quarter.

“It went to 40-14 in very quick fashion,” Martin said.