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Country Day rides the ‘Hill’ to sail past Lakers

Dan Stickradt | September 18, 2011 | Comments (3)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

WATERFORD — There’s two things a coach cannot teach or simulate in practice: Size and speed.

Birmingham Detroit Country Day displayed plenty of both at Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes Saturday and posted a resounding 34-3 non-conference football victory over the Lakers.

Jon Hill was the deadliest of the nine ball carriers for Country Day (2-2), which had too much size on the line and speed at the skilled positions for the Lakers to contain.

Hill is the defending Division 2 state champ in the 100 meters and also ran on two state-placing relays last spring (fourth in both the 400 relay and 1,600 relay). He finished with seven carries for 114 yards and blazed a trail for two touchdowns.

Hill, a senior, scored on runs of 63 and 43 yards to lead the Yellowjackets.

UP FOR GRABS: Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes receiver Garrett Ross goes high above Birmingham Detroit Country Day's Reid McManus during Saturday's non-conference game. Photo By Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

“We just felt that we had some size on them on the line more than anything. We told our guys if we just stayed with it that something would pop out of there,” said Country Day coach Dan MacLean. “John is a fast kid. In the open field and he can go. We have some good running backs.”

Hill was untouched on both of his long touchdown runs.

“It was all my linemen,” credited Hill. “I have to thank them the most though because all I’ve got to do is run as fast as I can. The holes were really big.”

Country Day is more than twice the side of Waterford Our Lady and has some superior athletes the Lakers don’t find on their roster this season. Our Lady of the Lakes graduated most of its starters and even starts a freshman at quarterback this season.

“We knew, being realistic, that we are both on different levels,” admitted longtime Lakes coach Mike Boyd about Class B Country Day. “I want to play good teams. I want to play nine games and so does (Country Day coach Dan McLean).

“We played well for a half,” added Boyd, whose Class D Lakers are normal postseason qualifiers in either Division 7 or Division 8. “But we made some mistakes and a team that good will make you pay for them.”

The Lakers (2-2) drove inside the Country Day 30 on three occasions and inside the 10 twice. Still, Our Lady could only muster a 38-yard field goal from Jake Doetsch with eight seconds left in the first half.

Reid McManus, who finished with 30 rushing yards, scored on a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter to put DCD on the board with 6:18 left in the half.

After forcing the Lakers to punt on their next possession, Hill scored on his 63-yard sprint to push the lead to 14-0 with 3:16 to go in the second quarter.

Country Day scored again only three plays into its first drive of the second half, this time with Mohamed Fakih finding room on a 31-yard scamper, which put the Yellowjackets up 20-3 and kick-started a 20-0 second half.

Hill scored again in the third quarter on a 43-yard run, while backup quarterback Tyler Weigers hooked up with Leno Carradi for an 86-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring early in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers also missed a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter. Garrett Ross finished with 67 receiving yards on five catches, Doetsch had 55 rushing yards on six carries and Sal Mastromatteo finished 9-for-21 passing for 104 yards for Our Lady.

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Tags: Birmingham Detroit Country Day Football, featured, football, high school football, non-league football, prep football, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes Football