Oak Park scored a touchdown’on the final play of’the first half of their Oakland Activities Association Red Division battle with Lake Orion Friday night.
Unfortunately, it was the only prayer they had answered all night, as the Dragons rode’a balanced offense and opportunistic defense’to a 26-7 rout of the visiting Knights.
Quarterback Sean Charette threw for one score and ran for another, Kim Bruce led the rushing attack with 78 yards on 13 carries, and the Dragons (2-1 overall, 2-0 OAA Red)’picked off three Oak Park passes to remain unbeaten in the division.
For Lake Orion coach Chris Bell, it was a good-news, bad-news kind of game.
‘We showed flashes,? Bell said. ‘We held them to negative-10 yards rushing, but we gave up over 200 yards passing. We put up 26 points and we only had to punt once, but we had three turnovers and we took 12 penalties.
‘There were a lot of good things, enough to win the game,? he added. ‘Of course we’re happy with the outcome, but there are still things to work on. We need to keep getting better.?
Kim Bruce rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown, while backfield mate Marcus Stevenson added 44 yards on 16 carries. He also scored a touchdown. Charette was 7-11 passing for?94 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Alex Mayo in the second quarter.
While Oak Park quarterbacks went 15-for-27 for 227 yards, the Dragons did get interceptions from Zach Zott and Mike Nelson.
Charette got the scoring started with a 3-yard run in the first quarter, then connected with Mayo in the second.
As time ticked away in the second quarter, the Knights lined up for their final play, a Hail Mary on which there was a mixup in Lake Orion’s coverage, and the Knights came away with a 61-yard touchdown pass on a play’Bell thought should have been defended.
‘We’re young on defense, and … we’re not football smart sometimes,? Bell said. ‘Every team goes through it. We’re getting better every week.?
Following a scoreless third quarter, Stevenson and Bruce added their touchdowns in the final period to close out the scoring. As a team, the Dragons rushed for 154 yards. Bell said they’ll need more of the same Friday when unbeaten Southfield Lathrup (3-0, 3-0) comes to town.
‘Defensively, we took some steps forward, but we still struggled against the passing game,? the coach said. ‘We keep getting better, which is good, because we’ll need to be better against Lathrup.?