Oxford Scouting Report

Written Monday August 26th, at 1:45 PM

The Dragons first opponent of the 2013 season will be the Oxford Wildcats. The game will take place on Friday night at 7 PM in Oxford for the Double O Trophy.

Oxford since 2011 has been 14-7 in the last two seasons and 10-4 in the vaunted White. The Wildcats under legendary coach Bud Rowley theme has always been pound the rock, which means running the football down the opponent’s throat.

The Wildcats have made the playoffs twice in the last two seasons mostly in division two. Oxford lost at home in the first round of the playoffs in 2011 to Rochester Adams 26-20 and last season eliminated Birmingham Seaholm 42-3 but lost to eventual state champion Birmingham Brother Rice 38-6 in the district finals.

Oxford will run the veer option, fullback dive, halfback dive, trap, iso, quarterback option, wildcat (with Tilley or Line,) and the bootleg which is Oxford’s bread and butter on offense. The Wildcats have been known for their line play but they do have some play-makers as well one both sides of the football despite the fact they are not deep.

The Dragons won last season 17-10 in Lake Orion and 45-6 in 2010 at Lake Orion but the Wildcats won in 2011, 41-20 on the first game on the Blue Turf in Oxford.

The Wildcats will feature junior quarterback Glacier Wallington. Wallington can run with the football, is tough mentally, and physically. He can also throw the ball well as well last season had a touchdown pass against the Dragons. Wallington has been getting a lot of attention from the press because of his athleticism at quarterback, there has been some comparisons to Taylor Martinez to Wallington with his ability to run and throw the football but is very underrated safety in which he is a play-maker as well with both his hands and feet.

The next player is junior running back and linebacker Ben Line. Line is the brother of Prescott Line, who is at Southern Methodist and was Mr. Football in Michigan in 2011. His elder brother Zach Line is currently playing for the Minnesota Vikings. Line like his two older brothers is a strong back that likes to pound the tackles and also plays linebacker as well on defense.

The next player is senior wide receiver/running back/safety Mitchell Tilley. Tilley is probably Oxford’s best athlete besides Wallington. He can run the football anywhere and catch passes from Wallington and also creates something where defenses need to be honest. Tilley is a speedy back from the backfield and can catch passes with his speed and athleticism.

Rowley has said that if his Wildcats make the playoffs then they go into Division One and could possibly meet the Dragons in the playoffs. Oxford did have an enrollment hike with its China program and leadership program. Oxford will be a tough match up for Lake Orion because of the pound the rock theme and the Wildcats since opening up the Blue Turf is 7-2 in the last two seasons.

We’ll see what happens on Friday Night.