Written Saturday August 31st, at 7:00 PM
In a game in which took two days to complete the Lake Orion Dragons looked like a Dr Jekyll and a Mr Hyde.
On Friday night the Dragons defense looked awful, just awful. They couldn't stop Oxford junior quarterback Glacier Wallington and senior running back Ben Line but the Dragons offense led by senior quarterback Connor Grant, senior running back Chris Leigh, and senior wide receiver Zach Arnold bailed them out before the storms came.
The score was 14-14.
Oxford scored first when running back James Patrick scored a one yard touchdown pass making the score 7-0 Wildcats.
Leigh scored his first touchdown from 12 yards out tying the score at 7-7. The PAT kicking was done by sophomore Lucas Bevilacqua.
The Wildcats responded as a blown coverage by sophomore Jaylen Wiggins which gave Wallington the advantage in throwing the ball 30 yards to senior wide receiver Mitchell Tilley making the halftime score 14-7 Oxford.
The Dragons responded in the first drive of the third quarter before the storms came when Grant connected with Arnold for a 41 yard touchdown score, tying the game 14-14.
Then the storms came in which it was a downpour.
The fireworks started on Saturday afternoon when Wallington and Line led the Wildcats down the field to the Dragons six yard line. However senior corner back Brad Chisolm sacked Wallington forcing a field goal from Aaron Johnson making the score 17-14 Wildcats.
Oxford kicked off in which Kyle Bell took the ball and unknown to the Wildcats gave the ball to senior running back Cory Ester and Ester took the ball down the left sideline for a 90 yard touchdown. Then after a Dragons stopped the Wildcats yet again on defense. Senior running back Dominic Giovinnazoo scored on a 11 yard touchdown giving Lake Orion a 28-17 lead late into the fourth.
The Wildcats answered on a 11 yard touchdown run from Line but failed on the two point conversion after catching Wallington dancing down the field trying to create a play making the score 28-23 Lake Orion.
The Dragons were in deep trouble until Grant found running back Chris Leigh on a third an 15. Leigh took the ball deep into Wildcats territory at the 33 yard line. Three plays later Leigh was in the end-zone for the second time in two nights scoring from ten yards out.
Oxford wasn't done yet scoring either.
Wallington scored a touchdown from ten yards out on a quarterback keeper which made the score 35-30 with less than a minute yet to play.
All Lake Orion had to do was recover a onside kick. However the Dragons did not and Oxford had new life with 48 seconds left in the game when the Wildcats recovered the onside kick and the ball was placed on the Lake Orion 37 yard line.
Wallington had one last drive but was sacked by the Dragons defensive line and one play later was intercepted after the ball was caught in the tough north wind and caught by Wiggins. The pick by Wiggins ended a tough night and day for the Dragons defense in which they allowed 30 points.
Lake Orion went into victory formation and celebrated by retaining the Double O Trophy on the Blue Turf at Oxford with a 35-30 victory and sending the Wildcats its first loss on the Blue Turf since Rochester Adams in 2011 (26-20.) It is possible that these two teams could see each other in the playoffs if things work out for both teams.
Grant was efficient in his first start under center throwing a touchdown pass, just controlling the game and the offense. The defense held on to the very end and made the key stops they needed late.
The Dragons are now 1-0 on the season and take on Troy Athens on Friday night at Lake Orion. The Red Hawks (0-1) were rocked by Warren Mott 47-7 on Thursday night in Warren so we'll see what happens.
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