OAA Recap Week Ten

Written Saturday October 27th, at 2:30 AM

Ah yes playoffs are well underway now as teas thrive to take the crown in their respective divisions. Lake Orion, Clarkston, Oak Park, Avondale, Oxford, and Southfield all came through the district semifinals with big wins. Farmington, Harrison, Seaholm, and Lahser all fell tonight and had very good seasons.

BIGGEST WIN OF THE NIGHT: Southfield 22, Detroit Martin Luther King 19: The Blue Jays proved that their 21-20 win over the Crusaders was no joke. Southfield came from behind eliminated the Detroit Public School League Champions from the playoffs. The Blue Jays trailed 19-14 but then got a touchdown and then a two point conversion along with a defensive stand. Southfield will now move onto the district finals with a trip to Knight Valley to meet fellow White rival, Oak Park. The Knights beat the Blue Jays 24-18 in overtime the last time they met in Southfield.

TOUGHEST LOSS OF THE NIGHT: Walled Lake Western 31, Farmington 28: In a seesaw game that went back and fourth, the Falcons scored a huge pick six with four minutes late in the game to take a 28-23 lead but on a fourth down Farmington saw Walled Lake Western take a 31-28 lead on a 25 yard touchdown pass with two minutes left to play in the game. The Falcons tried to move the ball into field goal range but a turnover ended all hopes for Farmington.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME: Fenton 22, Harrison 19: The Hawks came into Fenton with confidence after blowing out West Bloomfield last week but it was the Tigers who got the last laugh in Genesee County. The Hawks led early 8-0 but the Tigers answered and took a 13-8 lead and then Harrison answered and took a 16-13 lead. The Hawks got a field goal to take a 19-13 lead. The Tigers then answered Harrison’s drive by scoring a touchdown of its own and took the lead for good into the half at 20-19. Fenton would then get a safety in the second half and a defensive stand to complete the upset of the Hawks. Harrison is going home early in the first round and Fenton will take on Walled Lake Western in the district finals.

This Week’s Games:

Utica Eisenhower (8-2) at Lake Orion (9-1): It what will be a battle of the defenses and running backs. The key is this game will be won up front. Eisenhower has a big line, a four year quarterback, and great wide receiver. Lake Orion has balance as well on both sides of the ball. The Eagles and the Dragons are coming off shutout wins. Both of these teams are clearly even. This will for sure be one of the best games in the state.

Grand Blanc (6-4) at Clarkston (10-0): This will be a dangerous test for the Wolves against a dangerous Bobcats team. The last time Grand Blanc went into Clarkston, they destroyed Clarkston 38-14 in 2010. I don’t think the Wolves have forgotten that result. For Grand Blanc is can they stop the Wolves rushing attack, if they can’t it’s bye-bye Bobcats.

Oxford (7-3) at Birmingham Brother Rice (8-2): This is a bad match up for the Wildcats against the defending division two state champion Warriors. Brother Rice has a very offense, a good defense, and good special teams. The key will be if Oxford can get its passing game going, it has a chance to do the unthinkable.

Southfield (7-3) at Oak Park (8-2): The Knights beat the Blue Jays 24-18 in overtime at Southfield. This has the makings of yet another classic between the two teams in Knight Valley.

Avondale (9-1) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (9-1): This rematch could get very ugly for the Yellow Jackets on the red turf. No matter how bad Avondale wants Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, the Eaglets are on another planet right now after it’s blowout over South Lyon East. It won’t be easy for Coach Steve Deutch’s crew.

There were four big shocks so far in the playoffs so far, three from Division One, one from Division Six, and one from Division Three.

I thought that Dearborn Fordson had a chance to go far into the playoffs and possibly be the team to knock off Detroit Cass Tech but were handed yet another loss to arch city rival Dearborn. The Tractors lost 24-14 to the Pioneers and now Dearborn gets to go to Detroit to play Detroit Cass Tech next weekend. Fordson has not been the same team since losing to Lake Orion 38-0 in the state semifinals in 2008.

Another team that almost lost was Macomb Dakota against the Big Reds. The Cougars only led 4-0 at halftime against Chippewa Valley but Macomb Dakota managed to survive 17-7 and move on to play another shocking team in Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, who took Romeo out of the playoffs by two touchdowns 35-21 after the Bulldogs won the regular season meeting 28-21. Macomb Dakota and Macomb L'Anse Creuse North will play each other next week in the district finals.

Rockford came in down 7-0 to the Titans of Traverse City West but the Rams managed to get things back together and managed to hold off the Titans 17-7. The Rams will now take on Ottawa-Kent Conference rival Holland West Ottawa next weekend at Rockford.

I was just flabbergasted tonight by Zeeland East losing 46-0 to arch city rival Zeeland West. Last week the Chix beat one of the top teams in the Ottawa-Kent conference Muskegon 40-39 and ended up being ranked number one in state for division three. No one in the the state except the west side of Zeeland saw this coming especially the outcome. The Dux went nuts with over 500 yards of total offense, 484 on the ground. The Dux led the Chix 32-0 at halftime shocking the eastern part of Zeeland while the western part was very happy. Zeeland West will take on Grand Rapids West Catholic, who beat undefeated Hopkins in Grand Rapids next week.

I was discouraged by the Eagles of Madison Heights Madison tonight against Detroit Consortium 8-3. Madison had a 3-0 lead until the third quarter when Detroit Consortium converted on a touchdown and a two point conversion. This was the biggest win for Detroit Consortium as they stormed the field in celebration in Madison Heights.