The biggest game in Lake Orion history (until next week?)

[Note: My blog has also embraced the Lake Orion Dragons, the high school of the city in which I live and the school my son will be attending next fall. They have built a high school powerhouse in northern Oakland County, having reached the MHSAA Regional finals each of the past two seasons (losing to eventual state champ Macomb Dakota each time). This year's squad followed an opening-game loss to Rockford at EMU's Rynearson Stadium with 11 straight wins, and sits two wins away from the school's first state title. So if you like reading my posts, I invite you to take this ride with us. If you'd rather focus on my posts regarding Detroit college and professional teams, there are plenty of those as well so allow me this high school thrill ride and skip ahead to further reading.]



Saturday night, 7:00pm at Troy Athens High School, the Michigan Region 3 champion Lake Orion Dragons will attempt to go where no Lake Orion team has ever gone before.

Ford Field.

More specicifially, the Division 1 Michigan High School football championship game. The miracle ride continues after Jeffrey Heath's last-second prayer of a 49-yard field goal (see pic) upset Sterling Heights Stevenson, 38-36, in the greatest football game I have ever witnessed (so great I'm still writing the blog about it... should be up by Monday). Already the winningest team in Lake Orion football history, they seek a date on Thanksgiving weekend to show the state's viewing audience what they're made of. And a chance to add to the school's three state title banners, for wrestling (1990), baseball and girls' golf (2007).

Only once have the Dragons ever reached the state semis, in 1999. So they've already made history. But this season's magic carpet ride almost conjures up that D-word. Not "DEE-FENSE" but "DESSS-TINY." Consider the details of the Lake Orion playoff run:

1. Game 1 - Region 3 Division 1 Pre-Districts vs. Utica Eisenhower. The teams remained in a scoreless deadlock until the game's final two minutes, when tailback Branden Oakes exploded for a 25-yard touchdown and the game's only points.

2. Game 2 - Region 3 Division 1 Districts vs. Romeo - Lake Orion trailed Romeo by 13 points in the third quarter but came back for an impressive and equally improbable 24-23 win, keyed by a momentum-shifting quarterback sack by LB Eric Knoblock as Romeo had driven to the brink of the red zone, threatening to increase the lead to 20.

3. Game 3 - Region 3 finals vs. Sterling Heights Stevenson - The Dragons flew to a 35-7 third-quarter lead, buoyed by the return of a blocked punt. Fans were leaving the stands before host Stevenson rode the rocket arm of junior quarterback Jason Fracassa--grandson of legendary Birmingham Brother Rice coach Al Fracassa--with 29 unanswered points to take a 36-35 lead. Lake Orion lost the ball on downs, then held SHS and got the ball back on their 40 with 9.2 seconds on the clock. 15-year-old freshman QB Sean Charette lofted a pass to Charles Fleck at the Stevenson 32. The defender pushed him out of bounds instead of tackling him in bounds, leaving 2.5 seconds on the clock. Out trotted Heath, for a moment as improbable as Kirk Gibson's hobbled body hitting the 9th inning home run in his only at-bat of the 1988 World Series. 49 yards later, the ball splitting the uprights, Lake Orion was bound for the semis with a 38-36 win.

Tonight at 7:00, they take the next unlikely step toward the summit of Mount NoFrigginWay. As I type this, Rockford has just beaten Livonia Stevenson in the other semi-final at Spartan Stadium. So a win tonight against Dearborn Fordson and the Dragons can avenge their only defeat of the season, on the biggest stage in school history. The table is setting itself.

I'll tell you what. I'm glad magic is on our side.