FOOTBALL: Oxford holds off Lake Orion
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
OXFORD — Glacier Wallington doesn’t usually get emotional after football games. The Oxford senior let out more cries than sighs of relief Friday night, making an exception to his own rule.
The fourth-year starter for Oxford helped lead the Wildcats to a thrilling, 21-14, OAA Red Division victory over neighboring rival Lake Orion, snapping a two-game losing streak to the Dragons.
It marked the first time the two have played a league game since the early 1970s.
“I’m not usually this emotional, but after losing to them in close games the past two years I can’t help being a little emotional,” admitted Wallington, who took over at quarterback early in his freshman campaign but was not the starting QB in that season opener with the Dragons that year.
The Dragons defeated Oxford 17-10 in 2012 and 35-31 in ash 2013 with Wallington at QB.
“This is what we wanted ever since last year,” reminded Wallington. “We just came together as a team and beat them.”
Veteran Oxford coach Bud Rowley said it took his entire unit to thwart Lake Orion. The undefeated Wildcats, ranked eighth in the Associated Press Division 1 polls, stopped the speedy Dragons inside the Wildcats’ territory six times, including twice at the 1 and another at the 12 with under 30 ticks left in the ballgame.
“They were to tough when they had to be,” smiled Rowley. “All in all, it was a great team win by the kids.”
Oxford led 21-14, only to watch Lake Orion march from its own 37 down to inside the Wildcats’ 15. On fourth-and-six, the Wildcats forced Orion QB Cameron Kositz to misfire in the end zone with 21 seconds remaining, clinching the win for Oxford (4-0, 3-0).
“We knew it would be this type of game,” said Rowley. “We caught the passes when we had to, we made defensive stops. We stepped up. It was the 45 guys on this team that made the plays and helped us win this football game.”
Behind running back Matt Krause, an all-state sprinter in track who finished with 199 yards on 35 carries, moved the ball down field thorough the contest and tied the game at 14-14 with 5:17 left. Kositz hit a wide-open Nicholas Fox in the corner of the end zone for the Dragons’ final points.
Oxford responded a swift 3-play drive which ended when Scott Stubenrauch blazed a 65-yard trail for pay dirt with 8:01 to play. The Wildcats’ Noah Grove nailed bis third extra point to put Oxford up for good at 21-14.
The Wildcats, who forced two turnovers, scored first with 2:55 left in the second quarter when Wallington used a fake handoff and carried the ball 26 yards down the near sideline for the 7-0 advantage.
Lake Orion (2-2, 2-1) tied it at 7-7 with 10 seconds left when Logan Shadaia plowed through the line for a 2-yard TD run.
Lake Orion had chance to go ahead early in the third, but opted to go for it on fourth down from the Oxford 1 early in the third quarter. The Wildcats stuffed the run play inches from the goal line.
“We were able to move the football and get down in the (red zone), but tonight we just weren’t able to do it,” said Lake Orion coach Chris Bell. “That’s our bread and butter, short-yardage situations. But to come that close so many times, shame on us.”
Oxford moved ahead 14-7 with 2:14 left in the third stanza, this time with Wallington tumbling home for 6 yards out. The play capped a 99-yard drive.
Stubenrauch added 173 yards on 18 carries for Oxford, which is 8-26-4 against Lake Orion dating back to 1950. The two schools did not play from 1984 to 2009.
Category: Football, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester Adams, Stats / Area Leaders
