Posted: Sep 3, 2010 at 1:18 AM [Yesterday]

Dexter's Sequoyah Burke-Combs is brought down by Pioneer's Kyle Foster and Brady Butler during the first half at Dexter on Thursday.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

A week ago, Pioneer High School's football team showed it had a legitimate offensive threat in Drake Johnson.

But make no mistake, the junior running back who scored five touchdowns and threw for another in an opening-night loss has plenty of company. And that's just the way Pioneer coach Jeremy Gold likes it.

Pioneer sent three different players to the end zone - including three times by senior running back Terrell Moran - in an impressive 42-3 win over Dexter Thursday night.

By the end, Dexter coach Tom Barbieri wasn't quite sure what his defense had been forced to endure.

"They can go so many different directions," Barbieri said of Pioneer's style of the spread offense. "You look out there and I'm going, '(Gold's) got speed at four or five different positions and they play a little different game than what you're used to.

"There's a lot of empty stuff out there that really forces you to play in space and we didn't do a good job tonight."

Pioneer (1-1, 1-0 SEC) used a variety of methods to score, starting with Johnson, who scored his sixth touchdown of the season on a 11-yard run. But that's as far as Johnson's production went.

Twice, senior receiver Kyle Foster beat man coverage, reeling in a pair of Andy Creal touchdown offerings before Moran took over. The shifty 5-foot-7 running back who agreed to move to linebacker to clear space in Pioneer's backfield, touched the ball only five times, covering 19 yards.

After his first two touches both resulted in losses, the next three all ended the same way: In the end zone, helping showcase a multi-tiered talent pool that runs much deeper than Johnson.

"That's the way we want it," Gold said. "We don't want anyone keying on one kid. Drake is a special talent and he's definitely going to get his due throughout the weeks that come, but we've got to make sure we spread the ball out because we've got the kids to do so."

As much offensive firepower as Pioneer exhibited, Dexter (1-1, 0-1 SEC) struggled to solve Pioneer's defense. The Dreadnaughts managed only a second quarter Kyle Karagitz 38-yard field goal, twice turning the ball over with a fumble and interception before turning it over on downs late in the fourth quarter.

Pioneer's defense limited Dexter to only 30 yards rushing while quarterback Mike Mioduszewski couldn't consistently find receivers, throwing for 84 yards and an interception.

"The offense was a big concern," Barbieri said. "We needed to hold onto the ball tonight and take some of the pressure off our defense. We couldn't do that. The two need to work hand-in-hand."

Six Dexter possessions ended with punts, again forcing its defense to try and stop Pioneer. A week after losing in a shoot-out to Detroit Cass Tech in the Big Day Prep Showdown, the Pioneers were relieved that Thursday night's offensive output was enough to pick up their first win of the season.

"We worked hard for this game - even though we lost last week, we knew we couldn't lay down," Moran said. "I mean, we all lose, but we had to put everything aside and get prepared for this game. That was very important because we knew (Dexter) was going to come out and try and beat us and we just had to do what we had to do."