PINCKNEY — Second-half defense — highlighted by two fourth-quarter interceptions — helped the Hartland High School football team end a two-game losing streak with a 25-17 win over the home team Pirates on Friday night.

“It felt amazing,” said senior Anthony Martino, who snatched a pass from Pinckney quarterback Dominic Bona near midfield and ran it in for a touchdown to give the Eagles an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“We can’t have any more losses and to play like we did and get it done, it’s really a good feeling.”

But Martino wasn't the only hero. In the final minutes, Pinckney drove from its own 25-yard to Hartland's 7 when on fourth down with less than a minute to play, junior Anthony Villar intercepted Bona in the end zone to ice the victory.

“It felt good,” Villar said. “We were getting nervous because they were down inside our 10. When I picked him off, it relieved everyone.

“We’ve been getting down on ourselves, but this was a big boost tonight. Hopefully we come out next week and show everyone something.”

The Eagles (2-3, 1-2 KLAA West) are still struggling with turnovers and penalties, but they were able to overcome them in the win over the Pirates (1-4, 1-2).

“Obviously, we still need to work on not getting the penalties,” Hartland coach Marcus Dukes said. “But we made enough plays to get the win.”

Despite a fumble and two interceptions in the first half, Hartland junior quarterback Stephen Milarch connected with Villar on fourth-and-8 at the Pinckney 9-yard line with 21.8 seconds left in the second quarter.

The score pulled the Eagles within two, 14-12.

On Pinckney’s opening drive of the second half, Hartland junior Zach Hauk intercepted Bona in the end zone as the Pirates were threatening from the red zone.

“It feels amazing,” Hauk said. “To come in here and get a win like this, especially after dropping a couple games. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re not perfect by any means, but we’re going to keep working. To get this ‘W’ just feels amazing.”

Milarch finished with 116 yards and one touchdown rushing and 146 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Junior Brandon Gigliotti made his presence felt on the field with four big catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. He made a key third-down reception that kept a Hartland scoring drive alive late in the third quarter. Milarch finished the drive off with a 26-yard TD and the Eagles had their first lead of the night, 18-17.

“We know he’s got that in him,” said Dukes of Gigliotti. “We went to him a few times tonight and he came up with some big plays.”

Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Eagles, as they host Brighton (4-1, 2-1) next week for homecoming.

“In this division, you can’t feel too good about a win for very long,” Dukes said. “We’ve got Brighton next week and they’re good. We’re going to have to be ready to go.”