FOOTBALL: Lake Orion’s early fire burns Troy up

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

TROY — Lake Orion made quick work out of Troy Friday evening.

The Dragons came out firing on all cylinders for a 23-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and coasted to a 37-3 OAA Red Division victory over the winless Colts.

Three touchdowns and a safety in the game’s opening 8:31 gave Lake Orion plenty of breathing room and the Dragons simply took the wind out of Troy’s sails in the first half.

Lake Orion (1-2, 1-1) chalked 298 yards with their ground assault, as the Dragons’ offensive line dominated from start to finish and their speedy backs took advantage of the gaping holes and ample real estate to run through.

“We played really well, on both sides of the ball, especially in the first quarter. We played with a lot of emotion,” offered veteran Lake Orion coach Chris Bell, whose program had opened the campaign 0-2 for the first time since 1991, seven seasons before he became the Dragons’ head coach. “Even our special teams played well. We came out in the first quarter and dominated. We still have to get better. We wasted a few drives in the first half and third quarter. The guys are getting better, that’s what’s important. We dug ourselves a little hole starting 0-2. But we’re taking it one game at a time to get ourselves out of it.”

Keith Fields led the way with 197 yards on 16 carries, including long runs of 62 and 63 yards in the first half, and scored a touchdown for the Dragons. John Stewart added 41 yards on five carries for Lake Orion, which used 10 ball carriers in rolling up a 265-yard differential on rushing yards (298-33, 37 attempts).

The Dragons’ offense out-gained Troy (0-3, 0-2) by a 358-113 total, as they seldom allowed the Colts much breathing room to advance the football.

“We were pretty clean in the run game, which wasn’t the case last week,” noted Bell. “We were executing the run game in terms of getting where we need to be.We were blocking well up front. We were running hard, the courses were good. That’s good to see because we have to run the ball to be successful. Our offensive line did a great job allowing us to move the football tonight. they were blocking (great). We executed up front. They executed the schemes we were running.”

The speedy Fields put Lake Orion up for good with 10:12 to play in the opening frame, galloping home from 6 yards out. Luca Bevilalqua drilled his first of five extra points on the night for a 7-0 advantage.

Lake Orion’s Danny Wright added a 1-yard plunge with 6:32 left in the first quarter and four plays later Bay Smart intercepted Troy QB Scott Mittelbrun and raced 56 yards on the play for another score and a 21-0 lead with 5:11 still left in the opening quarter.

Lake Orion took advantage less than two minutes later when Troy snapped a punt out of the end zone with 3:29 left in the frame, pushing the lead to 23-0.

That lead stood until sophomore quarterback Caden Prieskorn, who finished the night 4-for-8 passing for 60 yards, connected with Jaylen Wiggins for a 31-yard TD strike late in the third quarter for a 30-0 advantage.

Preiskorn capped Lake Orion’s scoring with a 16-yard strike to Brody Kreutzer with 6:45 to play in the contest.

“We did make some mistakes — too many penalties,” said Bell. “We gave up some long yardage on a couple of occasions. There were times we were sloppy. But it all goes down to getting better. We were better overall this week and we’ll have to continue to get better.

Troy could only muster a 30-yard field goal off the foot of Luca Grodsky four seconds into the fourth quarter. The Colts slipped to 0-3 for the second straight season.

Prior to last season, Troy had not started a campaign 0-3 since 1974.

Adam Rissman had an interception for Troy. Connor Wilson had three catches for 35 yards receiving for the Colts. Troy had no ball carries with over 18 yards.

Smart finished with six tackles to go along with his interception and Wiggins added 43 receiving yards for Lake Orion.

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