Dragons eliminated from playoffs after loss to Walled Lake Central 20-17

Written Saturday October 29th at 9:27 PM

This whole entire season the Dragons could not get that one big stop and it was fatal Friday night.

Time possession and the fake punt, everyone in the stadium knew hurt and the Lake Orion Dragons were eliminated from the playoffs 20-17, on a field goal by Brian Maxwell with three tenth's of a second left in the game at a stunned Dragon Stadium.

Lake Orion lost a rare three straight games to close the season at 6-4 overall and shared the OAA Red Championship with Clarkston.

The Dragons could not stop the veer option offense that the Walled Lake Central Vikings provided and let Walled Lake Central senior quarterback Matt Liembach control tempo the whole game.

The Vikings got a field goal early from Maxwell that gave them a 3-0 lead then got a pick on Dragons quarterback Sean Charette extended the lead to 10-0 after a three yard touchdown from running back K.J. Schultz early in the second quarter.

The Dragons then started to rally behind Charette took the ball down the field and running back Jacob Miller scored from one yard out to get the Dragons on the scoreboard at 10-7. Orion then added a 25 yard field goal by Jeremy King to close out the half 10-10.

In the second half the Vikings got the ball and drove down the field using their veer option attack, leading to a 26 yard touchdown run by Leimbach giving the Vikings a 17-10 lead.

The Dragons answered the Vikings touchdown by going down the field, leading to a nine yard touchdown by Charette tying the game back up 17-17 in the third quarter.

Orion did have a chance, they recovered a fumble but did not convert thanks to two big penalties, forcing them back to midfield. They tried a fake punt by Zach Arnold on a fourth down and 30 but was tackled by Leimbach that cost them to turn the ball over on downs. That mistake led to Walled Lake Central's final drive.

The Vikings went down the field and on a fourth and seven the Vikings connected on a fake punt, taking it to the Dragons 29 yard line. The Vikings led by Leimbach and Schultz took the ball to the Dragons red zone. Orion tried icing Maxwell twice but got stronger every-time a timeout was called. Maxwell then hit a 20 yard field goal for a 20-17 lead.

The Dragons did have one last chance on a kickoff return but it wasn't meant to be. The Vikings celebrated their victory over the Dragons by singing their fight song while the Dragons looked on in sadness and tears. For Walled Lake Central it was a bit of revenge after the Vikings fell to the Dragons 35-28 in double overtime on a Roger Allison interception in 2002 at Dragon Stadium.

The Vikings (7-3: 4-1 KLAA North) will advance to the district finals in Clarkston, against the Wolves (7-3: 6-1 OAA Red) on Friday night.

This season was a very tough season for them, after coming off the State Championship season, the team was young with only four returning starters but that's no excuse. The Dragons fate was determined on stopping the big play that they failed to do on so many of their losses. In two of those losses, (Clarkston and Walled Lake Central) the Dragons allowed points on each of the final drives of the game. Orion has had chances but could not close the deal down.

Lets not forget that the Dragons have not seen a veer option attack like they saw in the Walled Lake Central game in the regular season. Lake Orion did not play Rochester Adams, a team that would have given the Dragons a strong look at what they were going to see. Adams runs the veer option offense very similar to Walled Lake Central and maybe it would have helped them prepare for Walled Lake Central's version of the veer but you couldn't control who you played but playing Adams probably would had helped a lot for this team.

The Dragons lose a lot of seniors, including quarterback Sean Charette, whom was the Dragons all time passing touchdowns leader. Charette's record playing in games was 35-11 when he started games and 37-11 in his career, if you count the two games he was out last season with the broken foot. This class has been through a lot, including the state championship crown that no one would forget.

Charette has won Orion some big games in his career. His first game against Rockford at Eastern Michigan and ever since he started almost every one of them. Charette lead the team to a 6-1 start then there was the five weeks of hell when the Dragons had to face and beat Rochester Adams, Clarkston, Utica Eisenhower, Romeo, and Stevenson. He became the first freshman to start at quarterback in a State Championship game when the Dragons faced the Rams yet again at Ford Field in the State Finals, sadly losing 26-14. Against the Titans, Charette led the drive when he threw a pass play to Charles Fleck, which set up the winning field goal from Jeff Heath, 38-36.

Charette in his junior season was lost to a leg injury in the Utica Eisenhower game but led the Dragons to a 8-1 record, only loss was to Farmington Hills Harrison and a 3-0 record in the postseason. Backup quarterback and wide receiver Cole Schaenzer along with Marques Stevenson, Dan Ney, and company led the Dragons to the 2010 State Championship while Charette cheered his team on, even though was in pain of not being in there for his team.

Next season the Dragons will have questions on offensive line and quarterback. The team has Jacob Miller, Jeremy King, and Chaz Miller and half of the secondary coming back along with a strong JV class who went 7-2 this season. The defense will still be a question mark heading into 2012 but this team is expected to be one of the state's top teams yet again. The Red next year will be tough with Troy Athens and Clarkston will also be very good.