Oxford varsity football coach Bud Rowley has always deflected personal achievements in his 30 years of coaching Wildcat football.
Despite having 25 consecutive winning seasons, Rowley has always credited his players for the teams successes.
Wherever credit is due, it should be noted that Friday 35-0 victory over Clio in the Cats home season opener was Rowley’s 199th career victory. It also is noteworthy that he was named last week as Coach of The Week by the Detroit Area Sports Writers following a season-opening victory over Holly.
Rowley’s overall record is 199-97-1 and his Flint Metro League record is 136-32.
On Saturday, the Wildcats will travel to Detroit and play for the first time ever at Ford Field where they will face Detroit U of D Jesuit in a non-league game at 1 p.m.
The Wildcats 35-0 victory over the Mustangs was vintage Rowley and Oxford-style football.
The Wildcats scored in every quarter, while amassing more than 300 yards rushing. A stingy defense held Clio in check the entire contest.
Senior running back Zach Line led the offense with 203 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He also spearheaded the defense with 16 tackles from his linebacker spot.
Line scored on the Wildcats? first possession, on a 25-yard run, at the 8:19 mark. Don Pohl kicked the first of his seven conversions.
Line added the second score on a 13-yard run in the second quarter with 10:08 left. With 15 seconds left before halftime, Line tossed a four-yard pass to Joel Fortier to put the Cats up 21-0 at the break.
In the third quarter, James McLean stole the ball from a Mustang running back and returned the fumble 58 yards for the score.
The Wildcat final tally came in the fourth quarter when reserve running back Austyn Sylva scored on a 20-yard run.
Although Line rushed 28 times for 203 yards, he did not see any action in the final quarter. Fortier added 74 yards on 10 carries.