FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Falcons end five-game skid in sinking Lakers
WEST BLOOMFIELD — Rochester welcomed back an old friend Thursday night and finally stopped the bleeding of a five-game losing streak by chewing up West Bloomfield 31-17 in an OAA Red Division football game Thursday.
Senior fullback Cody Devoe, last year’s leading rusher who missed 3.5 games with a shoulder injury, returned to the grid and ran for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons first win since Game 1. Devoe got hurt early in a Week 3 loss to Troy and did not play against Pontiac, Troy Athens and Clarkston.
“It’s always nice to get your best rusher back,” offered Rochester coach Erik Vernon. “I think once he got going our offensive line took over. We started to play a lot better.
“I know we’ve had a lot of injuries but that’s no excuse. Everybody has injuries,” added Vernon of his team previously losing five straight, including being shut out by Clarkston in Week 6. “The West Bloomfield coach was talking about how they have a bunch of guys hurt. That’s football. We just didn’t respond at all to the injuries. We didn’t have guys step up.”
West Bloomfield led 7-0 early and eventually tied the game 14-14 early in the third quarter. Rochester seemingly had the answer for every West Bloomfield scoring drive.
Devoe scored three touchdowns, including an 80-yard sprint in the fourth quarter, to pace Rochester. Junior James Ward also chipped in with 100 rushing yards and Michael Brighi kicked a field goal for the Falcons (2-5, 1-5).
West Bloomfield slipped to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in league play.
Category: High School, Prep Wraps, Rochester
