Dragons nation celebrates … Lake Orion wins first-ever Division 1 football title

CELEBRATION: Lake Orion's Marques Stevenson celebrates a touchdown during Saturday's Division 1 state championship victory over Plymouth. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotgraphy.com

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

DETROIT — Marques Stevenson had no problems shedding some tears near the 50 yard line Saturday at Ford Field.

The Lake Orion senior running back and the Dragons finally celebrated a state championship in football, building a 21-3 halftime lead on Plymouth and hanging on for a 21-13 victory in the Division 1 title game over the Cougars.

“This is just overwhelming. There’s nothing like working for this for four years and it all comes down to one game and we were able to win it,” said Stevenson, whose tears were turned to smiles at the postgame press conference. “That’s the greatest feeling.”

Stevenson finished the day with 186 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns, but perhaps his biggest play came on the Dragons’ final drive.

Leading 21-13 with 5:35 left and the ball on their own 20, the Dragons put together a long drive down inside the Plymouth 20-yard-line and were able to run the clock out. The drive was aided by a draw play on third and 15 from the Orion 26, where Stevenson found a hole in the line of scrimmage and scampered 34 yards for the first down at the Plymouth 40.

Later in the drive, Demitri Hudson’s 3-yard gain to the Plymouth 18 for the first down with 1:06 left was the sealer.

“This unfolded just how we thought it would be, and that’s a dogfight” said Lake Orion coach Chris Bell, who is 112-35 in 13 years as the Dragons’ head coach. “It was tale of two halves. We did some great things offensively in the first half. They made some adjustments (in the second half). We had a hard time handing their defense ends. To their credit, their kids were hanging in there and making plays when they had to.

Lake Orion’s defense yielded only 154 points the whole season, and only two teams were able to score more than 20 points against the Dragons this year.

“We played a great defensive football game and we controlled field position for the most part,” said Bell. “(This was) a total team effort.”

Lake Orion, which was in the postseason for the 10^th straight season and 13^th time in 14 years, reached the state title game two years ago against Rockford. There were several players on this year’s roster who were members of that team, including Stevenson and fellow running back Danny Ney who gained some valuable experience in that game.

“We didn’t come here for the experience (this time),” said Bell. “We came here to win a football game. We didn’t talk about the state championship. We just wanted to beat Plymouth. Everything else would just take care of itself.”

After forcing Plymouth to punt, Lake Orion (13-1) scored on its opening drive, as quarterback Cole Schaenzer found a hole in the Wildcats’ defense and scored on a 23-yard run. He dove into the corner the end zone with 8:33 left in the opening frame to give the Dragons a lead they would not relinquish.

Plymouth cut into the lead with 11:12 left in the second quarter, when Notre Dame-bound kicker Kyle Brindza drilled a 43-yard field goal.

Stevenson answered on a 3-yard plunge with 9:50 left in the second quarter and later added a 36-yard sprint for another scored 6:33 before halftime to account for the Dragons’ other scoring drive.

While Lake Orion did not score again in the second half, the Dragons did not yield an offensive touchdown to Plymouth.

“I thought we came out a little awestruck in the first half,” admitted Plymouth coach Mike Sawchuk. “We got down in that 21-3 hole. We were not shutting down their trap. We were getting (beat) on the outside a little bit defensively. I think it was kind of just the moment.

“We made some adjustments in the second half and shut them out, but I thought their defense was very good,” said Sawchuk. “They called some great plays and tackled well.”

Plymouth had never won a playoff game before this season even though this was the Wildcats’ fifth appearance in the postseason and fourth straight year in the playoffs. Plymouth knocked off three of last year’s Final Four squads in consecutive weeks — Plymouth Canton, defending champ Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Rockford — and allowed just 31 points in that stretch to reach the title game.

“We beat the No. 1 team in the state, the previous No. 1 team and the team that was No. 1 before that,” said Sawchuk. “The guys had an unbelievable run. They believed that they could compete with anyone.”

The Wildcats simply could not slow down the Dragons, who came in averaging 22 points a contest in the postseason and 39.6 points an outing through the first 13 games, in the first half.

Plymouth was never out of the game, keeping the Dragons off the scoreboard for the final 24 minutes but could never fully close the gap.

The Wildcats closed to within 21-10 off a shanked punt, where Victor Hicks scooped up the ball on a bounce and returned it 46 yards for the score with 10:30 still left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats could only muster a 28-yard field goal by Brindza with 9:54 to play in the fourth. Plymouth was stopped on downs and punted once in the second half.

“We have a lot skilled athletes, but I think defense and our line play has been the difference this season,” said Bell. “Our offensive line has been very steady all season long and our defense has been solid. They say that defense wins championships. Our defense has been great all season long and they were again today.”

Lake Orion did not allow an offensive touchdown the whole game. The Dragons held Plymouth to only 168 yards of offense.

“We had the one bad play off the punt, but other than that we held them to the two field goals,” said Bell. “Our offense got us the lead and our defense helped us keep that lead.”

Brennen Myer, headed for Michigan, was held to just three catches for 46 yards and Thomas Afetian had six catches for 36 yards for Plymouth. The Wildcats only amassed 48 rushing yards and Shaun Austin had all 138 passing yards on a 17-for-28 performance.

Hudson added 56 yards on four carries and Ney chipped in with 54 yards on 11 rushes for Lake Orion, which finished with 307 rushing yards on the day.

Schaenzer, who was only 1-for-4 passing for 40 yards and added 29 rushing yards, was moved over to the starting quarterback slot during Lake Orion’s regional final win over Utica Eisenhower, as starter Sean Charette went down with a season-ending foot injury.

To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com.  To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com

Tags: featured, lake orion football

Category: Lake Orion, Prep Wraps