FOOTBALL: Lake Orion grounds Lightning with 17-7 victory
BY DAN STICKRADT
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dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
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LAPEER — It took two days, but Lake Orion finally broke the hex of winning season openers.
The Dragons captured a Week 1 victory Friday afternoon for the first time since 2013 with a 17-7 road victory over Lapeer — an Elite Eight team last season — in a game that started Thursday and was finished on Friday.
The win avenged Lapeer’s 17-7 win last season over the Dragons in Ann Arbor. Lake Orion’s last season opening win came six years ago against Oxford (35-30).
“It’s great to get the first one under your belt,” smiled Lake Orion third-year head coach Blackstock. “You really don’t know what you have coming back and what you have coming up. Until you are in a live game situation with that kind of pressure, you don’t know how kids are going to react. That’s what I loved about this game.”
Lake Orion (1-0) answered those questions and more.
The Dragons scored 17 unanswered points — all in the second quarter — and twice stopped the Lightning inside Lake Orion territory, including inside the 5 yard line late in the third quarter, to preserve the lead and win.
Lake Orion’s defense also stifled the Lightning inside the 40 in the fourth quarter and offensively went to ball control to chew up plenty of time in the fourth stanza.
“They do run pretty well, and that’s the thing we are going to have to live on,” said Blackstock of his defense. “We’re not real big, but we are pretty athletic.”
The game was called do to lightning with 3:33 left in the third quarter on Thursday and resumed around 2 p.m. Friday. The Lightning drove down to the Lake Orion 1 and had three cracks to punch it through, but were stifled by the Dragons’ sterling defense.
Lapeer (0-1) struck first following a tipped pass and interception at the Lake Orion 47. Five plays later, senior Camdyn LaBelle found classmate Brian Brown over the top for a 17-yard touchdown strike. Michael Muston’s PAT gave the Lightning a 7-0 advantage.
Lake Orion struck back three drives later. On first down from the Dragons’ 28, senior Kobe Manzo broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and raced 72 yards for pay dirt, and Connor Ross’ extra point tied it at 7-7 with 9:10 to go in the second quarter.
It was Manzo’s longest touchdown run of his career. He finished with 157 yards on 24 carries.
“Back in June, we had our team camp and that inside zone (run), that’s kind of our bread and butter here,” said Manzo. “We want to develop that physical identity. Every team to walk off that field saying ‘We played Lake Orion.’ We want them to beat physically and mentally beat up when they play us.”
On Lapeer’s ensuing possession, Lake Orion junior Kade Manzo picked off LaBelle at the Lightning 30. Four plays later, Ross booted what proved to be the game-winning points on a 39-yard field goal with 6:51 left to go in the half.
Lake Orion had one possession in the half and the Dragons made it count. Senior Blaze Lauer hit senior Sam Staruch over the middle, where Staruch snagged a one-handed grab and raced into the end zone. Ross’ extra point with 1:03 left in the half capped the scoring.
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