BIRMINGHAM ? The road to a state championship will need to go through another Birmingham school for the Oxford Wildcats.
Last week, Oxford soundly thumped Birmingham Seaholm in the state playoff opener, 42-8, but this Saturday the Wildcats will need to get by the defending Division Two state champions Birmingham Brother Rice to win a district crown and move to the regional level.
Oxford meets Brother Rice at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Anderson Middle School, 3205 Catalpa, in Berkley.
The victory was the fourth consecutive win for Oxford and the team has seemingly gotten stronger and more focused during that time, improving its record to 7-3. Rice is 8-2.
Oxford’s victory over Seaholm was impressive, with the Wildcats amassing 401 total yards, while holding the Maples to 114 total yards.
‘This was a great win for our kids and the coaches,? Coach Bud Rowley said. ‘Everyone really played well tonight and we move on to our next team.?
The Wildcats completely dominated Seaholm, scoring on their first possession and continuing the onslaught with seven more points in the first quarter followed by 21 in the second.
Junior Ben Line led the Cats with the first three touchdowns of the game, on runs of four, two and 20 yards.
Quarterback Glacier Wallington hit Zack Hadorn with an eight yard pass in the second quarter and Line finished the second quarter scoring with a three-yard run.
After the fifth extra point kick by Josh Nelson, the Wildcats were up 35-0 at the break.
Kyle Reason scored Oxford’s final TD on a three yard run to put Oxford up, 42-0 in the fourth quarter. Seaholm got a TD and two-point conversion with 1:21 left to avoid the whitewash.
Line had 128 yards rushing on 26 carries along with his four scores.
Hadorn was a beast on both sides of the ball. He ran for 90 yards on 14 carries and had six receptions for 76 yards. He was one of the leaders on defense with five tackles.
Brennan Orr also was one of the leaders of the defense, which held the Maples to only seven first downs.
Wallington was 7-for-9 passing for 128 yards and the TD and was 10-of-13 on third down efficiency.