Any chance of a Flint Metro League title for Oxford was drenched in the rain Friday night at Lapeer East.
The Eagles had too much firepower for Oxford and won, 27-12, to remain undefeated.
The Wildcats now must set their sights on making the state playoffs. At 4-3, the team must win its final two games of the regular season to reach six wins and qualify for the playoffs. This Friday the Wildcats travel to Linden for a 7:30 p.m. game. The following week, Oxford will host Fenton.
The Wildcats have suffered through a series of injuries since the first game of the year, having lost starters at tailback, fullback, and their all-league tight end and linebacker, Pat Streit. Friday night was no different as junior quarterback Billy Keenist suffered a finger injury midway through the second quarter and did not return.
The Wildcats forced the first break of the game with 3:37 left in the first quarter. Paul Whiteman broke though and blocked a punt, which was recovered by Jason Manion. Whiteman later blocked a second punt.
The Eagles? defense held Oxford, however, and took over on downs on their 38 yard line. East wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. On the first play, Mike Moran broke through the right side of the Wildcat defense and ran 59 yards for a touchdown with 2:05 left in the first quarter. The conversion was good to give East a 7-0 lead.
East later capitalized on a Wildcat miscue with 9:29 left before halftime, recovering a fumble on Oxford’s 24. East quarterback Dustin Kapral then hit Moran on a 15-yard TD pass. The conversion was no good and East held a 13-0 lead.
Oxford answered back, with Hugo Gomez exploding through the right side and running for his longest touchdown of the season, a 46-yard jaunt with 6:58 left before halftime.
The drive was engineered by Mike Jones, who replaced Keenist at quarterback. The conversion was no good and East held a 13-6 halftime advantage.
The Wildcats then had a chance to narrow the lead when Jeremy Bukoski intercepted a Kapral pass and returned it to the East 24 with 1:50 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles? defense again tightened and the Wildcats? Jones attempted a 44-yard field goal, but lost his footing and the kick was booted into the line with 20 seconds remaining.
East had 141 yards at halftime, which included a 59-yard run by Moran. The Wildcats had 118 yards offense in the first half.
East wasted no time in scoring to open the second half. The Eagles took only three plays to go 79 yards. Moran ran the final 33 yards for his third touchdown of the game to give East a 20-6 advantage.
The Eagles scored their final TD on a 10-yard run by Sean Lentz on the first play of the fourth quarter. The score gave East a 27-6 lead.
Whiteman scored the final TD for Oxford on a six-yard run with 7:54 remaining. The two-point conversion was no good and East held a 27-12 advantage.
East finished with 362 yards in offense and Oxford had 218 yards offense, which included 209 rushing.
Gomez finished with 130 yards rushing on 26 carries.

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