FOOTBALL: Stoney Creek chews up Rochester Adams to remain perfect at 4-0, clinch OAA-White title share
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Like a game of old-school Pac-Man, Rochester Stoney Creek simply chews up teams dot by dot.
Or in this case, yard-by-yard.
The unheralded Cougars, ranked 11th in the first Associated Press Division 1 poll this week, are off to a 4-0 for just the third time in their 19-year school history — 2007 and 2013 are the other seasons with similar unbeaten starts. The latest was a resounding 23-10 OAA White Division victory Friday night over host Rochester Adams.
It marked just the second time in 13 meetings that Stoney Creek has defeated the Highlanders. And the Cougars did so in a variety of convincing ways.
Stoney Creek never trailed, outgunned the Highlanders (1-3, 1-3) by an impressive 289-118 margin in total yards offense, and never allowed Adams to seriously threaten its lead.
With two games to go in the shortened regular season, including one OAA White Division contest in the final week against Birmingham Groves, Stoney Creek clinched at least a tie for the OAA-White title. The other five schools in the six-team division now have at least one loss.
“I’d say the chemistry on this team is definitely there, 100 percent. Our whole defense is basically seniors,” said senior running back Camron Burford, one of 31 seniors on the roster and one of several third-year varsity veterans. “I’d say the main thing is our offensive line. They’re been practicing together for the last three years. They’ve put in so much work and they’re the reason why I have a lot of points and the reason why I have all my yards.
“We knew when we were freshmen that by the time we were seniors we’d be killing it,” continued Buford. “It is our goal to try to win the league and go undefeated (in the regular season). This was another step.
“But it sure feels great to beat a rival like that,” added Burford.
This is the first time since the 2007 season that Stoney Creek will claim at least a league title share. The Cougars shared the OAA Blue Division with Waterford Mott that year with a 7-1 league record. Stoney Creek also won a league title in the OAA-Blue in 2006, going 8-0 in divisional play.
“We’ve worked so hard and I think there’s many reasons why were’e 4-0 at this point,” beamed Stoney Creek third-year head coach Nick Merlo. “I love these guys. They just work so hard and I’m really proud of them. They sacrifice a lot, especially during Covid (lockdown). This offseason was unique, but they kept working.”
Offensive lineman Austin Jordan, Aden Smith, Josef Englehardt, Garrett Joye and Matt Daines, plus tight ends Grant Lowery and Cole Luhmann, make up the seniors who have played a majority of minutes in the trenches for the Cougars.
“I am so proud of our offensive line. I can’t single anyone out because it’s a complete team effort. Our scout offense, our scout defense — all those kids played so hard tonight and played so well. They no doubt earned this win and I’m so happy right now,” continued Merlo. “We have a senior (heavy) offensive line and you rely on the guys that put the work in, and you rely on the guys that have gotten you to this point. Defensively, teams have struggled to move the football against us. But it’s really hard to single 1-2 people out because this has truly been a team effort. We’re a good football team because everyone does their part.”
Stoney Creek (4-0, 4-0) now averages 39.3 points an outing while allowing 9.3 points a game. The Cougars have allowed 14 or fewer points against four schools which all made the postseason a year ago.
Burford was a workhorse on the ground Friday, rushing the ball 31 times for 132 yards and one rushing touchdown. He also passed 2-for-2 for 23 yards for good measure.
Senior quarterback Ryan Eckhout finished 7-for-12 passing for 95 yards, and the seasoned Stoney Creek offensive line helped the Cougars dominate the line of scrimmage for long stretches of the game for the fourth straight week.
Defensively, the Cougars only allowed 42 yards in the first half and only 118 total.
Stoney Creek set the tone by marching the opening drive down the field 75 yards over 12 plays and chewing up 6:08 off the clock. The drive was capped on sophomore Jon Fogler’s 5-yard touchdown run up the middle.
The Cougars’ second drive resulted in Lance Fogelberg’s 32-yard field goal for a 10-0 advantage with 6:17 to go before the half.
After snuffing out an Adams fake punt attempt and gaining the ball over on downs, Stoney Creek again marched 29 yards over nine plays with Eckhout hitting a wide-open Burford for a 17-yard scoring toss along the left sideline for a commanding 16-0 lead.
Adams was able to recover a botched snap on a Stoney Creek punt on the Cougars’ 8, and sophomore Colin Timco booted a 34-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the half to trim Stoney Creek’s lead down to 16-3.
Stoney Creek answered the bell in their first drive of the third quarter. This time the 41-yard drive over eight plays was ended by Buford running untouched up the gut for an 8-yard touchdown run that pushed the advantage up to an insurmountable 23-3 with 6:15 remaining in the third stanza.
“We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ll enjoy this one tonight, make elite choices and then get ready for Southfield,” added Merlo, who was quick to thank his entire coaching staff for the team’s stellar play this season.
Adams was finally able to put together a long drive of its own and go 79 yards over eight plays with sophomore quarterback Parker Picot hitting a leaping freshman Brady Prieskorn for a 15-yard fade pass in the corner of the end zone. The Highlanders — with perhaps their youngest team in many years — could not convert again going up against a senior-heavy team.
“We battled for four quarters which I like, but I think we made too many mistakes offensively and you can’t do that against a good football team like that,” sighed Adams coach Tony Patritto. “We did battle hard and with a young team (with six sophomores and one freshman) out there we never gave up. But the goal is to always try to win football games. We’ll continue to work hard and try to get better each day. We have (state-ranked) West Bloomfield next week (in the OAA crossover) and it doesn’t get any easier.”
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