Allow me to apply this description to the 2008 MHSAA Division 1 football season: The Lake Orion Dragons were the best team in the state not named Rockford.
This year's version of coach Chris Bell's perennial powerhouse reads a perfect 12-0—twelve handsome-looking volumes to display on the mantle, to be sure—were it not for those God-awful bookends. A pair of losses at the hands of the mighty Rockford Rams, the first to open the season in August and the second, today's sobering 26-14 defeat on the grand stage of Ford Field, to earn the Rams their third state title in five years.
Branden Oakes (see my pic) gained 107 yards on 16 carries, but his biggest contribution never materialized. That's because his number wasn't called on a crucial third-and-two call at the Ram 11-yard line during an electrifying Dragon drive that chewed up half the third quarter. Instead, quarterback Sean "I'm Still Just Fifteen... Hello" Charette rolled right and forced a throw into dense short-side coverage, where Gabe Speirs caught it in stride and brought it back past midfield.
Lake Orion was trailing 20-7 at the time. They had belly-crawled into the locker room but emerged with a swagger--taking the kickoff down the field, converting multiple third-down opportunities (even a fourth down) while wearing the Ram defense two-ply thin. The feeling among the white-out faithful was, we score here from the two, then hold Rockford to a three-and-out, and we're in the lead. One only needs to travel back three weeks to find the Dragons in a 13-point hole at intermission, 23-10 to Romeo in the District finals. Wow. The Romeo game was just three weeks ago?
Yes, this tiny slip of momentum was quickly assuaged by a Rockford fumble the very next play. Lake Orion turned that gift into points, with Oakes jamming it in from a yard out to cut the deficit to six, 20-14. Less than a minute remained in the third, and Rockford had the ball for exactly one play.
That drive, however, should have been for the lead.
The Dragons stopped the Rams cold on third and inches on their subsequent possession, and began moving again. Jeff "I’m The Reason Why We're Here At Ford Field In The First Place" Heath hauled in a Charette pass over the middle for a first down, and lost the ball after being hit at his 45-yard line. Rockford cradled the little bundle of joy and took it from there, driving the proverbial stake to the Dragons' hearts with a 4-yard Darby run for the game's final points.
Watching each unfortunate event unfold gave me the sensation of heading uphill on a mountain bike and repeatedly missing the gear each time I down-shifted. While I can simply quit mountain biking, the task for coach Bell is more substantial. He brought his team through districts, past the regional final and all the way to Ford Field. His team then played toe-to-toe with the team who put the only blemish on their record, virtually dead-even in total yards (263-248 Dragons), first downs (13-12 Rams), total plays (Lake Orion by a 59-53 score) and time of possession (24:46-23:14, a 92-second edge for Rockford).
But in situations such as this, when two teams who look similar on paper play a game where you need DNA samples to tell them apart, something unforeseen typically decides the outcome. For the Dragons, those somethings included, in order: a mental meltdown in two-deep coverage (leading to Ram quarterback Tim McGee’s 47-yard scoring strike to Nick Stokes, who was extended-holiday-hours open along the right sideline and scored without the need for express checkout); a blocked punt in the final minute of the second quarter (leading to Rockford's one-play, six-yard drive and a 20-7 lead at the break); Charette's aforementioned Big-Mo-sucking end-zone INT; and Heath's aforementioned hemorrhage of a 20-yard pitch and run (leading to receipt of aforementioned stake).
Even those five somethings cannot dull the brilliance of something as shiny as Lake Orion's 2008 campaign. All game I sat in my $100-if-it’s-a-Lions-game seat, thinking, 'they're really here, playing for it all.' Yet it never once felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Frankly, it felt a lot like a first-of-three-straight-trips experience.
After all, Roddick did win a U.S. Open. And he was the world’s top-ranked player for three months. And three months does span the length of an entire state-championship football season. I can keep going with this. Suffice to say, they’ll be playing for it all at Ford Field again. If not next year then the one after that. In fact, if they don’t win THE title in '09 I may even bring a bitter tone to the recap.
Deal with that, Andy.
[By the way--fear not, Dragon fans, the state title will be ours in the courts if not on the field. Soon the MHSAA will sanction Rockford for using an ineligible player. See their right tackle? Did he look familiar? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who knows what Jake Long looks like. They even gave the guy #77. Real smart move.]
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