Final Four-bound: Dragons sack Eisenhower for regional crown
Poundcake: Lake Orion's Tyler Misiak (No. 20) sneaks in from behind to help Dillon Siterlet take down Utica Eisenhower's Daniel Vanditti during Friday's Division 1 regional final. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
Around right: Lake Orion;s Danny Ney scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown for the Dragons in their 17-10 triumph over Utica Eisenhower. Staff Photo | Larry McKeee, www.lmckeephotography.com
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
LAKE ORION — One of the reasons for Lake Orion’s success on the football field is its balance and depth. The Dragons showcased this asset in Friday’s Division 1 regional final.
Even with starting quarterback Sean Charette going down with an ankle sprain in the first quarter, senior wide out Cole Schaenzer was moved under center and helped direct the Dragons to a 17-10 victory over visiting Utica Eisenhower.
The win gives Lake Orion its second regional title in three years and sends them into the state semifinals for the third time in school history. The Dragons (11-1) will face the winner of the Macomb Dakota-Detroit Cass Tech regional final Nov. 19 at a site to be determined by the MHSAA.
“We felt the pressure because Sean has been our quarterback for three years, but we knew that Cole was able to step up,” said Danny Ney, who had five carries for 80 yards. “We knew putting the ball into the hands of a senior, Cole’s ready for it.”
Schaenzer, who finished 3-for-4 passing for 37 passing, hopes that Charette can have his old job back next week but feels that this team has enough weapons to compensate when someone goes down with an injury.
“I just hope he gets well so we can keep playing our game,” said Schaenzer. “We have a lot of guys who can score and can do (some damage).”
Eisenhower’s bread-and-butter this season is its defense. The Eagles have forced 28 turnovers this season, but couldn’t get the Dragons to cough up the football.
“They just came at us with some punishing running,” said Eisenhower coach Bob Lantzy. “I can’t believe they didn’t turn the ball over. That was a huge difference. We have something like a 28-to-10 turnover ratio for the season. This is the first time we didn’t get a turnover.”
It was only the second time that Lake Orion was held to under 10 points in the first half and only the second time the Dragons were held to under 20 points all season. Lake Orion defeated Davison 42-7 in the opening week of the postseason and rolled over Grand Blanc 56-14 in last week’s district finals.
Eisenhower’s defense had a hand in slowing down the Dragons’ potent offense.
“Their inside linebacker (Daniel Naert) is fast and we couldn’t block him in the first half,” said Lake Orion coach Chris Bell. “We had to do some different things in the second half.
There wasn’t a hesitation of inserting Schaenzer in the QB spot despite him only playing scant minutes at that position.
“(Cole’s) our starting wide receiver and he’s a good quarterback. He would start for a lot of teams that we play,” said Bell. “He gets a lot of reps in there, so we didn’t have to completely abandon the game plan. He was ready. The way our defense was playing, we wanted to make sure we kept him in some good situations. He’s our starting wide receiver and a darn good one. He has 25 catches and around six touchdowns. We’ll see about Sean and what he’s able to do (next week).”
Tied at 7-7 coming out of the break, the Dragons took the lead for good with 8:50 left in the third quarter when Ney took a sweep around right and raced down the sideline 73 yards for the score.
“Eisenhower has a great defense, so we changed it up, ran to the boundary,” said Ney. “Only two of their guys read the play and I was able to break the tackle from one of them and (outrun) the other.”
The Dragons added to that lead with 10:19 still left to play on a long 13-play drive that chewed up 61 yards and ate off 8:33 of clock. Kyle Searle, who nailed the two extra points, split the uprights on a 33-yard field goal to push the lead to 17-7.
Eisenhower, which fumbled away it next possession, did not go away. Taking over on their own 34 yard line with 3:15 left, the Eagles (10-2) were able to connect on a 39-yard field goal from Daniel Gjocaj.
The ensuing on-side kick attempt failed, and Lake Orion was able to run out the clock.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lake Orion finally got on the board when Marques Stevenson bolted up the middle from 7-yards out with 6:57 left in the second quarter.
Eisenhower was able to match a 14-play, 67-yard drive that was aided by a pair of pass interference calls. Mike Connolly ended the drive with a 5-yard run with just 35 seconds left in the half.
Stevenson finished with 27 carries for 113 yards. Jon Gall recovered a fumble and both Adam Gros and Andrew Shafkalis had sacks for Lake Orion.
“It doesn’t get old, but I think the good thing is this isn’t the crowning achievement,” said Lake Orion coach Chris Bell, who also coached the Dragons to the Final Four in 1998 and 2008, with the 2008 squad finishing as the state runner up. “Our goal is to win next week. Being here before allows us to put this in perspective. The guys dug down in a very close football game and worked hard (to get the win).”
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Category: Lake Orion, Prep Wraps
