Marques Stevenson waited in the set position, his eyes darting away from the hole he would soon hit. In an instant the senior tailback launched himself forward, took a handoff from quarterback Cole Schaezer in stride, cut briefly to his left and gave eleven Plymouth High School defenders a glimpse of what twelve other opponents had seen all season long. The fascinating blur of number thirty-one shooting past them, then growing smaller and smaller as it approached the goal line.
On this day, that familar routine had grown exponentially. On this stage, in front of the populations of two cities and a state-wide TV audience, Stevenson's burst downfield led him to a place he and his teammates had never before been. As Stevenson crossed the goal line and turned to wait for his teammates, and as they added their third extra point, the Ford Field scoreboard added another seven points that grew the Lake Orion High School lead to an improbable 21-3. And with three minutes to go before halftime, the Dragons had all the points they needed to make the biggest point of all.
This year, there was no better team in all of Michigan.
Today Lake Orion is home to the Michigan High School Athletic Association District 1 football champions. The Dragons exploded early and held on late to defeat the upstart Plymouth Wildcats, 21-13, bringing home their most cherished wooden hardware of all: their first-ever state title.
And despite another dizzying assortment of big plays and offensive highlights, the defense is what rescued Lake Orion in the second half and carried them to the promised land. Time after time the Dragons' offense stalled. Time after time the weary defenders in white were asked to keep Plymouth out of the end zone. Yet this collection of teenagers battled again and again, stopping a Wildcat offense that had worn down the likes of Rockford, Catholic Central and #1-ranked Canton over the previous month. In the end, Plymouth managed just one touchdown and one field goal the entire second half.
The Dragons' immortal and improbable ride began on a steamy hot August night with a 45-6 drubbing of their neighbors from Oxford, in the schools' first meeting in 27 years. The ride gained momentum as Lake Orion decimated the Oakland Activities Association's Red Division with alarming consistency. Rochester, who would eventually qualify for the MHSAA playoffs, fell 36-7. Then newly consolidated Pontiac High School crumbled, 44-13. Then West Bloomfield (56-14), Royal Oak (42-7), Troy (45-0) and Troy Athens (45-7).
Farmington Harrison, the ultimate Division 2 state champs, put the brakes on things a bit by handing the Dragons a 28-6 defeat. But head coach Chris Bell pulled his team together the following week, and Lake Orion delivered an inspired and emotional 28-7 victory over arch-rival Clarkston at home on Senior Night, locking up their second conference championship in three years and sewing up home field advantage throughout the regional playoffs. And for coach Bell, the regionals have been as familiar a setting for his teams as Dragon Field itself.
Even as junior quarterback sensation Sean Charette twisted and fell under a blitzing Utica Eisenhower defense in the regional final, breaking his right ankle, Lake Orion showed no signs of slowing its trajectory. Even as Charette's backup, platooning senior wideout Cole Schaenzer, guided the team against undefeated PSL champion Cass Tech, somehow the ride seemed destined to pick up steam as it turned and pointed itself toward downtown Detroit.
Now, that one frontier of state championship glory has been conquered. Now the green and while has entered the fraternity of the elite. Now these seventy high-school kids have immortalized their football program, creating an indelible story to share with their kids and their kids' kids whenever, wherever Lake Orion is mentioned.
To a brilliant coach, a fearless team, a loud student body and a proud community: this time the ride didn't just take you up the mountain. It took you right to the top.
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