Oxford Football Coach Bud Rowley succinctly summarized his squad’s opening game Friday against powerhouse Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
‘We got waxed,? said Rowley of the 44-3 loss.
But, he quickly added that his team never quit and he saw some very hopeful signs. ‘We gave up some silly things but we’ll be fine. We will get back to work this week and be ready to go.?
The Wildcats suffered five turnovers in the first half, which helped give Orchard Lake a 31-0 halftime advantage.
The score could have been worse but St. Mary’s had four touchdowns called back due to penalties.
The Orchard Lake Eaglets are expected to be a state powerhouse this season. Last year the team made the state finals in Division Two. This year’s team not only includes members of that team but also several of the better players from Detroit St. Martin DePorres, which closed its doors. DePorres was a runner-up in Division Seven in the 2004 playoffs.
The fact that Orchard Lake was able to lure so many of the top players from DePorres has not gone un-noticed by some other schools as charges of recruiting have been leveled and at least one school administrator has filed a complaint with the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
St. Mary’s had exceptional team speed and used it often. Quarterback transfer Justin Siller connected on seven of eight passes in the first half for 180 yards. He tossed touchdowns of 42 yards to Taurian Washington and 25 to Nick Koenigsknecht in the first half.
There also were touchdown runs of nine and 35 yards.
Running back Anthony Bowman scored a touchdown while also having a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown called back.
Bowman is expected to be one of the top running backs in the state.
Orchard Lake finished with more than 400 yards in offense while Oxford managed 159 total yards.
Quarterback Billy Keenist was the Wildcat’s leading rusher with 68 yards. More than 40 of those yards came in the fourth quarter on Oxford’s only drive of the game that led to a score.
The Wildcat’s score came on a 25-yard field goal by Zach Wasylyna.
This week Oxford will travel to play Davison at the Cardinal’s opening game in their new stadium, adjacent to the high school.
The game will be played on Thursday at 7 p.m. because there’s no school on Friday.