Oxford overcomes early deficit to roll over Lathrup
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
SOUTHFIELD — Oxford‘s football program learned a valuable lesson about itself Friday: The Wildcats have the mettle to come back.
Down 18-0 in the second quarter to host Southfield-Lathrup, Oxford scored 42 unanswered points over the final 34 minutes in recording a 42-18 OAA White Division triumph over the Chargers.
It was the league opener for both teams.
“We didn’t come ready to play at first, but our guys picked it up in the second quarter,” offered veteran Oxford coach Bud Rowley. “We have a lot of experienced guys, guys that have been around for two, three, four years. They have been in this position before.”
Suffering from its hangover of defeating defending Division 1 state champion Lake Orion in Week 1, Oxford dug itself into an 18-point hole.
Lathrup’s Jamal Lyles scored on runs of 2 and 5 yards and Colin Parks, who had a 75-yard reception on one drive, scored another touchdown for the Chargers (0-2, 0-1). Lyles had 121 rushing yards, most coming in the first half.
Lathrup could not convert any extra points or conversions.
Kyle Anderson got Oxford on the board in the second quarter when he hauled in a 4-yard strike from Vito Giannola. That drive more than got the Wildcats (2-0, 1-0) on untracked.
Prescott Line went on to score five touchdowns for Oxford, scoring an 8-yard run in the second quarter to help close the gap.
In the third quarter, Line, headed for Southern Methodist, tacked on scoring runs of 2 and 4 yards, while he added runs of 2 and 1 yards in the fourth quarter to help turn the deficit into a route.
Line finished the night with 232 yards on 31 carries. It marked the second straight week the senior has scored five touchdowns and collected more than 200 rushing yards.
“You can’t do that without the offensive line doing their job. Kudos to our offensive line for stepping up again,” said Rowley. “Guys like Collin Goetz, he’s a three-year starter, Zach Hadorn, Tyler Hunsucker, the tight end, they are returning starters. These are experienced guys that are doing a fantastic job creating seems. And Prescott knows what to do with the football.
“Defensively, we did a good job slowing them down,” said Rowley. “We were able to (move and keep) the football.”
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Oxford, Prep Wraps
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
FALL SPORTS
FOOTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Football&x=12&y=12
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0
CROSS COUNTRY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Cross+country&x=11&y=10
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
VOLLEYBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Volleyball&x=0&y=9
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
WINTER SPORTS
BASKETBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Basketball&x=13&y=12
WRESTLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=wrestling&x=10&y=9
SKIING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Skiing&x=5&y=14
GYMNASTICS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Gymnastics&x=10&y=12
HOCKEY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Hockey&x=11&y=14
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
BOWLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Bowling&x=4&y=13
SPRING SPORTS
BASEBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Baseball&x=16&y=13
SOFTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Softball&x=8&y=11
TRACK AND FIELD: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=track&x=14&y=11
LACROSSE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=lacrosse&x=12&y=9
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0