Dragons have hit rock bottom.

Written Friday August 31st at 11:05 AM

The Dragons have hit rock bottom on Thursday night.

Having a big crowd, opening up a new stadium, it just didn't matter the same problems came true as Lake Orion fell to the Oxford Wildcats 28-7 losing the Double O Trophy in the process.

The problems are there which were the same against Lapeer. It is turnovers and time possession football. The Dragons had five turnovers while the Wildcats had two turnovers. (Oxford converted theirs to 21 points while Lake Orion none.) Time possession is another problem, the Wildcats had the football more than the Dragons which included two drives of 14 plus plays which led to points.

Lake Orion couldn't stop Drew Carpenter, Oxford's converted running back playing quarterback this season. Carpenter went seven for nine for 97 yards and two touchdown passes while having 18 carries for 77 yards. Trent Myre had 19 carries for 63 yards and two touchdowns in the game. The Dragons defense also could not get off the field on third down either which kept them in the game longer.

The Lake Orion offense had trouble sustaining drives all night but there was one glimpse of hope on the night when quarterback Blaze Lauer found Matt Freeman on a fade route for a 36 yard touchdown in the second quarter tying the score at 7-7 at the time.

Then it went south.

Mistakes as mentioned doomed Lake Orion, they went for it on fourth down after just converting a fourth down earlier in the drive, instead of punting at the Oxford 43, which led to the Wildcats winning touchdown late in the second quarter. The mishandled punt that led to Oxford's first touchdown in the first quarter and later in the game running back Kobe Manzo fumbled in the third quarter when the Dragons just got a fumble recovery, which led to the Wildcats third touchdown.

Lake Orion is 16-22 since 2014 and sit at 0-2 this season, that's not good. The offense has really struggled, numbers don't lie when you look at it.

Now can this team fix their problems, sure, but frustrations are high and the problems mentioned above is the reason why. Effort is NOT the issue. The schedule does not get any easier for the Dragons as they have to go to Adams (next week) and have West Bloomfield, Southfield Arts and Tech, and Monroe all on the road and have Clarkston coming to Lake Orion.

I think it's time to do some sole searching, have a team meeting, or something. I get that this is a Junior heavy team but there is plenty of leaders on this team. It's important to stay together as a team because right now it's going down a same road that happened last season when the Dragons went 3-6.

This can be turned around but it won't be overnight, it has to be one day at a time.

Why a clean bill of health could go a long way for the Dragons Volleyball chances.

Written Thursday August 30th at 11:30 AM

The Lake Orion Girls Volleyball team sits in a unique spot right now.

21-0, winners of three straight tournaments, and is currently ranked number one in the State in Division One.

The reason why for the good start is a clean bill of health.

The Dragons last season were injury riddled which cost them dearly. They weren’t able to get healthy which cost them the Red and losing in the district semifinals to Clarkston in the State tournament.

This season, things are different as Lake Orion has managed to stay healthy and when healthy they are as talented as anyone in the State of Michigan which is a bonus for coach Tony Scavarda.

Paige Briggs had an injury riddled season a year ago is back and fully healthy along with Leigah Boes who also missed time last season due to injury but is back now healthy.

The Dragons also have Wren MaCaulay at setter along with Ciara Livingway whom is sharing liberio duties with Lauren Bell. Sydney Smith is a solid outside hitter. Riley Hunter who saw significant playing time while Briggs was out last season contributes and Reagan Goeke along with basketball standout Kendall Robertson handle the middle.

Depth is another factor, which the team does have.

One of the factors that Lake Orion could be favored is that they have wins against not only Red foes in Clarkston, Stoney Creek, Oxford, and Bloomfield Hills but they have knocked off Farmington Hills Mercy, St. Catherine Sienna Academy, Northville, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, and Novi in the process.

The Dragons will have their own quad next Wednesday when they host Stoney Creek, Farmington Hills Mercy, and Mount Morris.

The Red will be a challenge for sure which includes road trips to Clarkston, Troy, and Adams but Stoney Creek, Bloomfield Hills, Seaholm, and Oxford come to Lake Orion. They will also play in some tough tournaments as well.

The question for Lake Orion will be is can they stay healthy??? If they do this could be a team that could possibly rival the 2011 team and we know what happened there.

It’s still early but anything is possible.

Dragons Fall to Lapeer.

Written Friday August 24th at 12:30 AM

The Lake Orion Dragons kicked off the 2018 season at Michigan on Thursday night but the game did not go as planned.

The Dragons fell 17-7 to the Lapeer Lightning sending its record to 0-1 on the season.

Blaze Lauer went 8 for 18 for 67 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions while running back Kobe Manzo had ten carries for 24 yards and receiver Drew Van Heck had four catches for 33 yards, receiver Mitchell Howell had one catch for 18 yards and a touchdown along with two carries for five yards, and punt returner Sinai Pilot had a 46 yard punt return.

Brady Apple was 15 for 23 for 149 yards with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown while Jaylen Kirkland had 28 carries for 67 yards for Lapeer.

Lake Orion will play on it’s new home field next Thursday night against Oxford.

Thoughts

The defense was on the football way too much and time possession was a difference maker as well. Lake Orion had one offensive position in the third quarter. Lapeer had a ton of experience as well when you look at Apple, Kirkland, and Parker Dickinson whom transferred from Linden had a nice game on both sides of the football.

Thursday is a must win game.

Volleyball Off to a Good Start.

Written Monday August 20th at 12:20 AM

The Lake Orion Volleyball team kicked off the 2018 season with a bang winning their own invitational in Waterford on Saturday over 27 other solid programs including Clarkston, Northville, Stoney Creek, Troy, Troy Athens, Adams, Rochester, Oxford, St. Catherine Sienna Academy, and Groves.

The Dragons knocked off Northville in the championship game. Lake Orion was led by Paige Briggs (eight kills), Sydney Smith (12 kills), Wren McCauley (25 assists), and Ciara Livingway (14 digs) for coach Tony Scavarda’s team.

But it’s early in the season and danger looms.

Injuries happen in sports and it hurt Lake Orion last season with injuries to Briggs, Kendall Robertson, among others.

The Dragons won their own invite last year but injuries as mentioned doomed them later in the season and was prevalent in their five set loss to Seaholm.

It’s also important to know that they are in arguably the toughest division in the State, the OAA Red. 

The league is very talented starting with the team that eliminated Lake Orion from the State tournament last season in Clarkston. The Wolves have talented players in Clare Nowicki and Sierra Kersten, among others for coach Kelly Averall-Pinner. Stoney Creek is very good led by Stephanie Smith and Kate Stration, among others,  not to mention the Cougars head coach is former Dragons coach Ross Talbott. Bloomfield Hills is led by Alexa Rousseau but they are going through a coaching transition. Troy has Fran McBride and Jessica Robinson for coach Tom Vigilant. Oxford has improved under coach Brian Kim. Adams has a ton of talent back for coach Bridgette Harding. Seaholm is always Seaholm.

It’s going to be an interesting season, if this team can stay healthy throughout the season and improve very similar to Clarkston then good things will happen.

Once districts come, the question becomes is can this team beat the Wolves when it counts? It will always be a war between Lake Orion and Clarkston, it always is and it won’t change.