Wisner Stadium, plus recap from Pontiac

Written, Sunday September 12th at 8:48 PM

Ah a glorious day, at Wisner Stadium, all the history, since it opened up in 1941, Wisner had Detroit Lions scrimmages back in the day, when the Lions played in Pontiac, it also had field turf donated to them by the St. Louis Rams during their run to the Super Bowl, but what would take place Friday Night, would be one that fans of Lake Orion would love to see at Wisner Stadium when they competed against an upstart Pontiac Phoenix team, but here is some information about the Phoenix.

Pontiac was a school that was formed in 2009, when budget cuts forced then schools Pontiac Northern and Pontiac Central to merge into one high school. They changed the colors from the Northern Red and White, and Central Orange and Black to the Purple and Grey that represented the Phoenix. Pontiac in their first season went 7-2, and shared the OAA Blue title, they went on to host Utica Eisenhower in the playoffs at Wisner Stadium, they lost but a new program was forming and came together.

The Phoenix then went up two divisions from the Blue to the Red, every expert around Metro-Detroit predicted Pontiac would finish in the bottom of the league, but they have continued time and time again to prove their doubters wrong, it started with Southfield-Lathrup on the road, and the Phoenix won that game 27-16, then a shocker when Troy Athens came to Wisner Stadium for what was to be a huge showdown with Troy Athens, Athens was suppose to be an improved team, and this was one of their better teams, however Pontiac didn't care, they routed the Red Hawks out of Wisner Stadium with a 42-3 shellacking. The win meant Pontiac was 2-0, entering their biggest challenge of their young history, a showdown with state-ranked and powerhouse Lake Orion at Wisner Stadium.

The Dragons came in as the favorite in the match up, got the scoring going quickly with a field goal by kicker Kyle Searlie that gave the Dragons a 3-0 lead. Then on the kickoff the Dragons used an onside kick, and recovered, that set up the team's next score. On the next play Orion quarterback Sean Charette connected with slot receiver Dan Ney for a 41 yard pass for touchdown, the point after touchdown kick was blocked but the Dragons had a 9-0 lead. The Dragons did make a defensive stand however, when Pontiac drove the field toward the Dragons two yard line, when they fumbled the ball and the ball went out of bounds in the end zone, marking a touch back to the 20 yard line.

The Phoenix responded in the second quarter as quarterback Johnathan Sneed connected with receiver Patrick Johnson on a 33 yard touchdown pass, making the score 9-7 in favor of the Dragons. However Orion responded, going down the field and on a fourth down and goal to go, Charette found wide receiver Zach Zott for a eight yard touchdown pass to give the Dragons a nine point lead at 16-7 with six minutes left in the half. The scoring wasn't done yet, as Pontiac was driving down the field, Sneed was being pressured on a fourth down and two by the Dragons defense, was intercepted by defensive end Marc Ljuljdjuraj who took the ball 69 yards to the end zone for another Dragon touchdown, the lead increased to 23-7, and that was the score at the half.

The second half was dominated by Dragons running back Marcus Stevenson, Stevenson rushed for three touchdowns, 41, 69, and 74 yards respectably. Stevenson finished with 216 yards on 11 carries. The Varsity went on and won 44-13 over the Phoenix to improve to 3-0 on the season, and 2-0 in the OAA Red. Pontiac falls to 2-1, and 1-1 in the season. The Dragons will return home and play West Bloomfield on Thursday night due to West Bloomfield celebrating the Jewish Holiday "Yom Kippur"

The Dragon Junior Varsity this week took on Pontiac, the team steamrolled to a 48-9 victory over the Phoenix at Dragon Stadium, behind two touchdown passes from quarterback Derrick DeLaura, and a potent offense led by running back Storm Hudson, and receivers Chaz Miller, and Joe Deneau, the team is now 3-0, and 2-0 in the Red. Next week the team will travel to West Bloomfield and take on the Lakers on Wednesday night.

The Freshman Dragons also took on Pontiac this week, the Dragons rolled to a 33-6 victory over the Phoenix at Dragon Stadium. The Dragons were lead by a combination of players, who pressured Pontiac all day long. Both Freshman teams stand at 3-0, with the green team being 2-0 against the Red, while the white team is 1-0 in the White with their win over Oxford. The Dragons will split their squads up next week at the Green team travels to West Bloomfield for a showdown against the Lakers on Wednesday, while the White team hosts 2-1, 2-0 OAA White, Rochester Adams on Wednesday at Dragon Stadium.

Well we'll see you next week for your complete football coverage throughout the season.