By Joe St. Henry
Review Editor
Whatever changes Lake Orion’s football team made during a short week of practice after the team’s season-opening loss, they worked.
Playing before a raucous home crowd, the Dragons? defense regained its stinginess and the offense came alive early in a 35-7 win over the Falcons.
‘Sometimes it takes a hard kick in the teeth for the kids to learn to play with a sense or urgency,? Head Coach Chris Bell said.
‘We played much better fundamentally against Rochester, especially on defense tackling and controlling the line of scrimmage.?
Junior Nick Booker set the tone by blocking a punt on Rochester’s first possession and putting the ball on the Rochester one-yard line. It did not take long for junior Jacob Miller to bull his way into the end zone to give Lake Orion an early 7-0 lead.
Miller scored another short touchdown later in the game, while sophomore Corey Ester used his speed to score on a 24-yard run. Senior quarterback Sean Charette threw for two scores ? a 20-yard pass to Ester and a 17-yard touchdown to junior Chaz Miller to close the scoring for Lake Orion.
The Dragons finished with 414 total yards on offense, including 288 on the ground. ‘When you average 6.4 yards on first down, that really opens up the playbook,? Bell said.
Lake Orion’s defense, in the meantime, shut down the Falcons? running game, limiting Rochester to a total of 61 yards rushing. The Dragon defense also pressured Rochester’s quarterback all night, recording five sacks. The Falcons were limited to 111 yards of total offense. Davis Rossman and John Gall led the team with ten tackles each.
Rochester’s only score came on a 73-yard fumble return for a touchdown late in the game.
Up next: Pontiac at home on Friday, 7 p.m. Last week, the Phoenix lost to Troy Athens, 27-14. They stand at 1-1.