Dragons lose two but should be fine moving forward.

Written Monday September 10th at 12:10 AM

It wasn’t a great week for the Lake Orion Volleyball team.

Expectations of being ranked number one in the State in Division One means that you will always have the target on your back.

On Wednesday at Lake Orion, the Dragons fell in two sets to Farmington Hills Mercy but they beat Mount Morris.

On Saturday, the ladies traveled to Novi for the Novi Invitational where it was a strong field which included powerhouses in Clarkston, Novi, Northville, and Utica Eisenhower. Lake Orion went 5-1 on the day which included wins over Lakeland, Plymouth Christian, Berkley, Utica Eisenhower, and the host Novi. The Dragons would run into Novi's arch rival the Northville Mustangs, a team they have beaten already in a tournament. Things went great early for Lake Orion but Northville got the upper hand winning the last two sets and beating the Dragons in three sets in the final giving them their first tournament loss.

Thoughts.

Will Lake Orion drop in the rankings, sure with the two losses but as long as this team is healthy they will always be a threat and will be fine moving forward. The Dragons will head into league play in arguably the toughest division in the State of Michigan (OAA Red), starting with a home matchup with the Oxford Wildcats on Thursday and then they will head to Portage and compete in the Portage Central Invitational on Saturday.

All that matters for this team is that they should thrive get better, not be stale. Focus on winning the league and then making that deep run in the State tournament. It won’t be an easy road but then again, nothing is ever easy and that’s the fun part of sports.

Dragons Get Big W at Adams.

Written Saturday September 8th at 12:00 AM

The talk last week was that the Dragons have hit rock bottom.

The talk now on Friday night was it was a good start to getting back to that foundation.

Lake Orion had to come from behind and beat the Rochester Adams Highlanders 28-24 in Rochester into which the Highlanders introduced their new stadium with new field turf, bleachers, and scoreboard in the process.

The first quarter started with a bang for the Highlanders as Mark Patrino scored rushing from three yards out for a 7-0 lead.

The Dragons would then get a fumble and take advantage of the turnover a few plays later as Blaze Lauer found Mitchell Howell tying the score at 7-7.

Lake Orion’s defense was opportunistic would then get another defensive takeway and in the ensuing drive. Lauer found Kobe Manzo giving the Dragons their first lead of the season at 14-7. Lake Orion would then shut Adams down for the rest of the half keeping their advantage.

The third quarter started great for the Highlanders as they went down the field behind quarterback Carter Farris and Patrino but they would have to settle for a field goal and a 14-10 Lake Orion lead.

The Dragons would then respond going down the field and connecting on a Lauer forth down at midfield. Six plays later Manzo found the endzone again and a 21-10 lead.

Adams would then respond again as Patrino went corner to corner from 25 yards out making the score 21-17 Lake Orion.

In the fourth quarter Farris went deep connecting with wide receiver Reece Collins for a 55 yard passing touchdown and a 24-21 Highlanders lead with ten minutes remaining in the game.

Lake Orion would then respond after a key fourth down stop stopping Patrino and the Adams offense but they needed to overcome another fourth down as Lauer kept the drive alive deep into Adams territory.

The Dragons would then respond with 1:24 left in the game as Jack DeBrincat scored from three yards out giving Lake Orion the lead back at 28-24.

Lake Orion needed a defensive stop and they got it thanks to some key defensive stops that ran the clock out.

This is a huge win for the Dragons and for coach John Blackstock. The offense has seemed to have returned from the doldrums scoring 28 points, doubling the total points in the last two games. The defense had their moments but its still a work in progress.

Lake Orion was outgained by Adams 390-197 but penalties and mistakes doomed the Highlanders in the game. Lauer was nine for 17 for 102 yards and three touchdowns. He would rush seven times for 11 yards. Manzo had 15 carries for 61 yards and five catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

Lake Orion is 1-2 and 1-1 on the season and will host Troy Athens next week.

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.

Field has been named new Hockey Coach at Oakland University.

Written Tuesday May 22nd at 8:05 PM

The Lake Orion Hockey team will have a new leader come next winter.

Nick Field has accepted to coach the Oakland University ACHA team next winter. Field spent eight seasons coaching the Dragons.

“I want to thank former Athletic Director Bill Reiss for giving me the opportunity here at Lake Orion and current Athletic Director Chris Bell for his tremendous support of the Lake Orion hockey program. I want to thank the parents and supporters for all of their commitment to build LO Hockey, without your support the program wouldn’t be where it is today. I also want to thank the student body for giving our players an exciting environment to play in” Field said in a statement.

Field departs Lake Orion with a 103-70-18 record.

“Most of all I want to thank the players that I’ve had the opportunity to coach throughout the years. You are the only people that truly understand how much dedication, effort, and passion to be a successful team and I hope you carry that with you throughout your lives. You provided me with a tremendous experience while at Lake Orion and I thank you for that” Field concluded.

Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.