FOOTBALL: Lake Orion holds off Oxford in wild affair
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
OXFORD — Speed kills.
Lake Orion taught that valuable lesson to Oxford Saturday afternoon.
Locked in a 14-14 battle when play was called Friday with 8:54 left in the third quarter due to severe weather, the Dragons received some big plays from its talented corps of track sprinters to rally past host Oxford, 35-30, in a season opener football game that was completed Saturday.
The win gave the Dragons (1-0) possession of the Double-O Trophy for the third time in four seasons. The series was restarted in 2010 after nearly three decades of being on hiatus.
PAY DIRT: Lake Orion’s Chris Leigh stretches across the goal line amid several Oxford defenders during Saturday’s non-league contest. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com, lmckeephotography@comcast.net
“Having these guys healthy this season makes a difference,” offered Lake Orion coach Chris Bell of his senior class of play-makers. “They all played a big part in this win. I though Chris Leigh made some outstanding plays, Corey Ester had the kickoff return and Zak Arnold made a few nice plays. Our skilled athletes really stepped up for us.
“Last night, we started like we were starting a bunch of new guys on defense, which we are,” continued Bell. “(Friday’s postponement) gave us a chance to go home, watch some film and correct some things and make sure we weren’t making the mistakes.”
The second chance proved to pay dividends for Lake Orion in the end.
Trailing 17-14 with 4:26 left in the third quarter following a 22-yard field goal by Oxford’s Aaron Johnston, Lake Orion answered with an 89-yard kickoff return by the speedy Ester to help Lake Orion take the lead for good — and the Dragons held on in the end.
Easter, like teammates Leigh and Arnold, all suffered injuries during the track season last spring, which dropped the Dragons to third at the D-1 state meet in June. Now healthy, they each delivered in the season opener.
“I think we are a part of what we like to do,” smiled Ester. “It’s nice to be back healthy and to be able to help this team.”
Forcing Oxford (0-1) to punt on its next series, the Dragons put together a quick six-play drive that was capped by senior Dominick Giovinazzo’s 11-yard touchdown sprint with 11:44 to play in the contest, which was good for a 28-17 advantage.
The Dragons could never put Oxford away until the end.
The Wildcats cut into the deficit with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Ben Line’s 11-yard TD Scamper. The two-point conversion pass failed, leaving the Wildcats in a 28-23 hole with 6:07 left.
Lake Orion ate up nearly four minutes of clock before scoring again, this time on Leigh’s 10-yard run with 2:27 remaining on the clock and a 35-23 advantage on the scoreboard.
Junior quarterback Glacier Wallington’s 11-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining pulled Oxford to within 35-30 and the Wildcats were able to recover the onside kick attempt with 45.7 seconds of operating time.
Wallington, who finished with 141 rushing yards on 24 carries and 10-for-16 passing for 82 yards, could not will the Wildcats to some last-minute heroics.
Lake Orion ended the game when sophomore Jaylen Wiggins picked off Wallington on the Orion 20 yard line with nine seconds left.
“We beat a good football team,” said Bell. “Glacier Wallington is a great athlete and he made some nice plays. You don’t see that type of (run-oriented) offense much anymore. We were able to contain it better on Saturday.”
Oxford, which held a 194-90 edge in total offense in the first half and allowed the Dragons only six minutes of offense over the first 24 minutes of play, dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half in building a 14-7 lead.
The Wildcats drew first blood when sophomore John Patrick scored on a 2-yard plunge with 6:03 left in the second quarter.
Lake Orion evened the score on a 10-play drive that lasted 56 yards and was highlighted by Leigh’s 14-yard TD sprint down the left side with only 2:10 left in the half.
Oxford had the answer with 18.3 ticks before halftime when Wallington found a wide-open classmate Mitchel Tilley in the end zone with a 30-yard TD strike.
Lake Orion tied the game at 14-14 with 9:51to play in the third quarter when senior quarterback Connor Grant found a streaking Arnold for a 41-yard touchdown pass.
“There were a couple of plays that made the difference,” offered Oxford coach Bud Rowley. “A dropped pass here, a mistake there and that kickoff return. Somebody had to lose the game and unfortunately we lost it. It’s tough to swallow and digest losing to Lake Orion. But they beat us. They made some plays and we didn’t.
“I thought when we recovered the kick that we had them,” continued Rowley. “But we just came (up short).”
Line finished with 118 yards on 26 rushes for Oxford.
Grant was 4-for-5 passing for 112 yards, Leigh picked up 70 rushing yards on six carries, Giovinazzo added 46 yards on eight carries, while Arnold chipped in with 41 receiving yards and 30 rushing yards for the Dragons.
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FOR MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Football&x=12&y=12
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
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