Dragons explode for 35 in the fourth quarter to beat Troy at Ford Field

Written Sunday September 29th, at 1:15 AM

When you are struggling as an offense after getting destroyed last week to Stoney Creek 36-7 and arguably your best lineman is in crutches, your best defensive end is also on crutches, and your best defensive lineman is on the sidelines with a hip flexor and all of a sudden you’re in a tie game at 17-17.

You panic right???

Yeah you do panic but what happens next???

If you answered a 35 point explosion in one quarter you thought right.

The Dragons exploded for 35 unanswered points to make the game a blowout at Ford Field in a 52-17 victory over the Troy Colts on Saturday night.

Lake Orion even though was the visiting team wore a special jersey to support the military in green with black numbering and a gray shoulder yoke. Troy wore their road whites for the game.

The Dragons struck first on an attempted Colts punt when Troy mishandled the punt and fumbled in the end zone. Lake Orion’s Charlie Khoury pounced on the ball and recovered it for a Dragons touchdown making the score 7-0.

Lake Orion was in line to score again but returning running back Chris Leigh fumbled the ball on the Troy one yard line and the Colts recovered. Instead of 14-0 Orion, it was still 7-0.

Troy would get two more fumbles from Lake Orion and an interception but struggled to capitalize against a Dragons defense that got torched last week for 36 points by Stoney Creek. The Lake Orion defense showed up and got a fumble recovery from the Colts in the first quarter.

The Colts would then get a 32 yard field goal after a fumble by Dragons running back Matt Krause in the second quarter which made it 7-3.

The Dragons answered back with a 35 yard field goal of their own from kicker Brad Schaenzer making the score 10-3 Lake Orion heading into the half.

The Lake Orion offense in the first half was just awful, awful. The Dragons turned the football over three times (two fumbles and an interception) was shut down most of the half. Some of the struggles was their own fault, others was the Troy defense did pretty well in shutting them down.

The third quarter things got interesting and it started with the Dragons in the form of Corey Ester. Ester took a hand off of the jet sweep and took the ball past three Troy defenders to the end zone for a 56 yard touchdown making the score 17-3 Orion.

The Colts then started to make a rally, just like they did against Rochester three weeks ago but with a different quarterback in the form of Nick Bradley. Bradley a junior was filling in for starting quarterback Jay Darish whom was still recovering from a stinger and a shoulder injury that he suffered in the Stoney Creek game with Troy two weeks ago.

Bradley then got to work and found Devon Alexander for a 50 yard touchdown pass. Alexander guessed right and beat cornerback Aaron Hughes on his way into the end zone. It was 17-10 Dragons.

The Colts managed to stop the Dragons again and then Bradley got the ball back connected with Danny Wunderlich whom made a leaping catch past a gambling cornerback Brad Chisholm for a 75 yard touchdown tying the score at 17-17 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Lake Orion would then answer right back with big runs from Krause and Leigh along with Zach Arnold getting involved in the frame. Dragons quarterback Connor Grant whom returned from his stinger injury he suffered last week against Stoney Creek connected with Ester for a 24 yard touchdown pass giving Lake Orion the lead 24-17 to end the third quarter.

The Dragons defense would then stop the Colts and forced them to punt at their one yard line. Once the punt was on Ester took the ball and ran 30 yards back to the Troy one yard line. Grant and his offense came out and made a statement that he was back with a touchdown run making the score 31-17.

The Lake Orion defense returned back to form after the Colts got the ball on the next possession. Troy running back Charles Adams fumbled the ball and was recovered by Logan Shadida. Shadida returned the ball 18 yards for a Dragons touchdown making the score 38-17 Dragons.

The Dragons would then get a fourth down stop against the Colts offense yet again and was back on offense. This time Arnold struck again like he did last season at Ford Field against Troy Athens when he had two touchdowns in a 68-20 rout went down the sideline for a 66 yard touchdown making the score 45-17 Dragons.

Lake Orion would then put its second string in late in the game and would get success from running backs Justin Pavalasak and Zach Serzo. The drive would lead to a ten yard touchdown late for Pavalasak closing out the scoring for the evening at 52-17 Lake Orion.

With the win the Dragons are now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Red on the season while the Colts fall to 2-3 overall and 2-2 on the season. Lake Orion will continue its three game road trip with a trip to Rochester on the Falcons homecoming. That game will be at 7 PM on Friday night. The Falcons (3-2, 2-2 Red) have a lot of senior experience on their team and should have the makings of a good game on Friday night.