FOOTBALL: Lake Orion gains back swagger on grid-iron; Oakland Christian, NDP, Everest ready for the big show
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
LAKE ORION — It looks like Lake Orion has finally got its swagger back in 2019.
For a program that is making its 21st postseason appearance in a 31-year span, the Dragons have not been a formidable opponent since 2012 — the last time Lake Orion even won a postseason game.
“We’ve made a lot of strides this season to get back to where we were a few years ago,” said third-year Lake Orion head coach John Blackstock, who has served on the Dragons’ coaching staff for more than two decades. “We were on quite a roll there for a long time, then we had a couple of tough years there and didn’t make the playoffs in 2014, 15 and 17. Last year we made it back and qualified but lost first round.”
Lake Orion reached the state semifinals for the fourth time in 2012, but have been relatively quite since that season. In fact, the Dragons lost in the D-1 first round in 2013, 2016 and 2018 and even finished below .500 and out of the postseason picture in 2014, 2015 and 2017 — a year Lake Orion finished 3-6 which was the lowest win total 1992.
Previously, Lake Orion maintained a 13-year stretch (2001-13) where they qualified 13 straight seasons and from 1998-2013 made the postseason cut 15 times in a 16-year stretch. The Dragons captured the state title in 2010, finished as the state runner-up in 2008 and lost in the state semifinals in both 1998 and 2012 under former head coach Chris Bell, now the school’s director of athletics.
“We have a lot of very athletic players, guys who have put in the work to get us back to where we were. There were expectations at Lake Orion for a long time, but then we slipped up a little bit,” said Blackstock. “Nobody wanted to be the class that didn’t make the playoffs and their was some pressure there. We didn’t make it (three times in the past six years). Now we’’e back with one of the best teams we’ve had in a long time.”
The Dragons, ranked fifth in the final Associated Press regular season polls, take an 8-1 record into its home pre-district contest against fellow OAA school Rochester Stoney Creek. The Dragons are 3-2 all-time against the Cougars and this will be the first time the two have ever met in the postseason.
“Stoney Creek is a good team, kind of where we were last year in the fact that they are rebuilding and reached the playoffs for the first time in a while,” said Blackstock. “We’re excited to play them and excited to be at home. They are well-coached and I think better than what their 5-4 record indicates.”
Lake Orion finished second in the talent-laden OAA Red Division behind D-1 third-ranked West Bloomfield, which handed the Dragons their sole loss — 59-52 in four overtimes.
“That loss still hurts. It’s hard to let go,” recalled Blackstock. “But that humbled us a little bit and helped us refocus.
Since that heartbreaking loss, Lake Orion has won four straight contests — convincingly — and outscored those four schools by a 188-62 margin. For the season, the Dragons have outscored its nine foes by a 365-165 difference with one shutout and five games where the opponent scored seven or fewer points.
In fact, this year’s team scored the second highest regular season total on a nine-game schedule dating back to 1950. The Dragons rolled up 367 points back in 1975, while that same year Lake Orion set the school mark for 36 points against.
“Our historian, Mike Hatch, sent me an email over the weekend saying this year’s team had one of the highest point totals in school history, and the second all-time behind 1975,” said Blackstock. “It’s nice to know because, even though it won’t win us any games in the postseason, it shows how much our work paid off. I wouldn’t have believed it at first because we have had some great teams that put up big numbers in the regular season, but none have put up nine-week totals like this one except for the 1975 team.”
AUBURN HILLS OAKLAND CHRISTIAN
In just its 12th season of having a football program, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian enters the postseason for just the third time. The Lancers have never been beyond the district finals in its previous two postseason appearances.
Oakland Christian finished the regular season with a 7-2 overall record — matching the 2017 team with seven wins. The Lancers, 1-2 all-time in the postseason, finished second in the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference this season, another all-time best.
Oakland Christian has outscored the opposition 289-140, and has averaged 32.2 points while yielding 15.6 points a contest. The Lancers have set many school records this year, especially defensively.
This is just the third season where Oakland Christian finished at or above the five-hundred mark.
Oakland Christian travels to perennial power Fowler to open its Division 8 postseason.
PONTIAC NOTRE DAME PREP
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep has quietly chalked up its best season since 2012 — the last year the Fighting Irish finished the regular season with an 8-1 record.
Notre Dame Prep reached the district finals that season before a heartbreaking 14-12 decision to Birmingham Detroit Country Day. The independent Irish will host North Branch Irish in its Division 4 pre-district game.
This year, the Irish have quietly put up impressive numbers on both sides of the football. NDP has scored 369 points (41.0 average) while giving up just 114 points (12.7 per game). The Irish have also recorded three shutouts, held four opponents to seven or less points and seven to 20 points or less.
Notre Dame Prep’s only loss was to a non-Michigan school, that coming in Week 6 vs. Noblesville (Ind.) Guerin Catholic (34-23).
This is NDP’s first postseason berth since 2017 and 13th overall since the MHSAA adopted a postseason in 1975. The Irish have never advanced beyond the regional finals (Elite Eight) and have not been that far in the state tournament since 2004. The other regional finals berth was back in 1994.
Notre Dame Prep holds a 8-12 overall record in the postseason and is 243-240-1 dating back to 1967 when the school opened as Pontiac Catholic Central. The Irish have finished at or above five-hundred in 12 of the past 20 seasons.
CLARKSTON EVEREST COLLEGIATE
No other local team has put up numbers quite like Everest Collegiate — which has offered football for less than a decade.The Mountaineers have fielded a solo football program for seven seasons and they have qualified for the Division 8 playoffs seven times — batting 1.000 for postseason appearances.
In fact, the Mountaineers have not put up numbers quite like 2019. Everest Collegiate finished unbeaten in the regular season for the first time, going 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the CHSL-Intersectional 2 Division. The Mountaineers also captured their first CHSL C-D title this year as well.
This year’s group has held all eight opponents to 14 points or fewer and two opponents to single digits. The Mountaineers, which had a bye-week in Week 3, have outscored its eight opponents 275-88 — by far its best defensive effort in its short-lived history.
Everest Collegiate is 4-7 all-time in their seven postseason runs, including 2017 when the Mountaineers reached the D-8 regional finals before falling to Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (60-20).
The Mountaineers open its pre-district game with a rematch at home against Flint Beecher, a team knocked them out in last year’s district finals (22-14).
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