BY NORM MCKEE
Special to The Review
Those who attend athletic competition regularly will occasionally witness an athletic event with such equal talent and effort, it almost seems unfair that one team must win and the other lose.
That was the case as the Lake Orion varsity football team took on the Rochester Adams Highlanders in Rochester on Sept. 9, losing 17-16, after Adams scored late in the fourth quarter.
The good news for the Dragons was their defense played well enough to win the annual showdown between these two titans of the Oakland Activities Association.
The bad news was, so did Adams. In a game that was filled with playoff-like intensity and a boisterous, standing-room-only crowd on both sides, the lead changed hands six times and the outcome remained in question right down to the final tick of the clock.
Lake Orion opened the scoring on their first offensive series, with a 27-yard Dylan VanFossen field goal. Adams took a 7-3 lead with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter, on quarterback Jacob Ball’s two-yard run.
The Dragons answered quickly, on the heals of a 68-yard run by Joe Nowicki, with a three-yard plunge by Andy Miller, giving the team a 10-7 lead at the end of the first.
The two teams traded the ball throughout the second quarter until, with just 48 seconds remaining in the half, Highlander kicker Bryan Kimball connected on a 45-yard field goal to tie the game at intermission.
With the game tied 10-10, and just 10 minutes left to play, Dragon linebacker Troy Anderlie intercepted a Jacob Ball-pass at the Adams? 48-yard line.
On the next play from scrimmage, Brad Hood hit Nowicki in stride for a 48-yard score. The extra point attempt was partially tipped and hit the uprights, falling no-good, leaving the Dragons with a 16-10 lead.
Although the Dragon defense stopped the ensuing Highlander-drive, a fumbled punt on the Orion eight-yard line resulted in an Adam’s touchdown, when Ball ran from one yard out.
The extra point attempt, although tipped by a Dragon defender, fell through the uprights to give Adams a 17-16 lead with just 4:57 remaining.
The Dragons would get the ball three more times, including once with 2:40 remaining, and again with just seven seconds on the clock, but the Highlander defense was able to hold off Orion’s final attack, including a heart-stopping interception as time expired.
Orion defender Josh Allison proved to be the game’s stand-out for both teams, collecting 13 solo tackles, including four quarterback sacks, and leading the way for the Dragons? ‘Big-Four? defensemen of Allison, Anderlie, Shaun Vernon and James Monko, who combined for 35 tackles, six sacks and an interception.
Nowicki led the Dragon offensive production, with 129-combined yards, including 81 yards on five carries.
Nowicki also had one catch for 48 yards and a touchdown.
The Dragons will initiate their new artificial turf field at home on Friday against Southfield Lathrup.