Dragons Embarrassed by Chippewa Valley 27-7.

Written Thursday August 25th at 11:50 PM
Updated Friday August 26th at 9:40 AM

The Dragons kicked off the 2016 season with high hopes and expectations.

However, things did not go as planned and it showed its ugly side.

Forget all the good fortune, the hype, and the optimism. It was the same thing that has been occurring the last two seasons.

Orion fell to Chippewa Valley 27-7 on Thursday night at Tom Adams Field in the Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State University.

Early on it was a turnover fest game as Orion and Chippewa Valley battled for control of the football but it was the Big Reds that turned a Max Horniffer fumble into a touchdown from Steven Charles as he ran on a draw play from 50 yards out for a 7-0 Chippewa Valley lead.

The Dragons had their chances but had a dropped pass on a third down and then they had a golden opportunity after the Big Reds poorly played a snap which got Orion deep into Chippewa Valley territory. However, the Big Reds defense would prevent it, stopping the Dragons on downs.

Chippewa Valley would then strike again scoring on a passing touchdown from quarterback Tommy Schuster to Jacob Rybicki from 16 yards out but the kick was blocked for a 13-0 Big Reds lead.

Chippewa Valley would then strike again after a quarterback keeper from Schuster from one yard out made the score 20-0 heading to the half.

Orion would then strike after a 30 yard run by Johnny Haggitt cutting the Big Reds lead to 20-7 in the third quarter.

Chippewa Valley responded as Schuster found Darian Greenly from 18 yards out to wrap up the scoring 27-7.

There wasn’t any scoring in the fourth quarter.

Thoughts.

The Dragons are in deep trouble especially with the schedule coming up and the league they are in (the Red) starting with Stoney Creek led by their new head coach Bob Lantzy but that’s next week. The Cougars beat Orion 21-14 last season at Orion.

Quarterback play was not very good, John Marshall was four for 13 for 37 yards and one pick. The defense looked shaky, allowing 27 points and still has some major weaknesses. The offensive line looked out of sink, allowed at least three sacks. The running game was spotty. Wide receiver play wasn't good either.

There were a lot of fundamental mistakes, poor tackling, turnovers, lack of execution.

You can play hard but if you don't execute your not going to win that's the bottom line.

If this team doesn't get their act together then it could be another long season, maybe even worse than the two 8-10 seasons. It's a very real possibility. 

I have to question now, does this program deserve to play Chippewa Valley??? The freshman team tied them 21-21 and JV was smoked 38-0. Now yes Dragons coach Chris Bell and Big Reds coach Scott Merchant are friends but right now Orion has lost three straight games to Chippewa Valley and the last two years Orion hasn't made the playoffs.

Maybe it's time to look at that possibility.