By Joe St. Henry

Review Sports Contributor

Lake Orion ‘s football team enjoyed the taste of victory for the first time in more than a month last Friday, with a convincing 24-7 win over Stoney Creek.

After a scoreless first quarter which saw the Dragons run only two offensive plays, they gave the Cougars a taste of their own medicine, with a physical, ball-control running game that wore down their opponent.

The Dragon rushing attack generated 291

yards on the ground, led by Billy Roberson’s 138 on 22 carries. Lake Orion carried the ball 38 times total, averaging 7.7 yards per attempt.

“We finally got everyone back on the offensive line, including (starting tackle) Daniel Babcock, and our goal was to generate a strong running game – it worked,” said head coach John Blackstock. “The line played really well and our backs ran hard.”

Lake Orion’s defense did its job too, shutting out Stoney Creek in the second half and only giving up 251 total yards.

The Cougars got the game’s first break when they recovered a Dragon fumble on the game’s first punt. Lake Orion’s defense, however, set the tone for the rest of the game with a fourth down stop after the Cougars moved the ball deep into Lake Orion territory early in the first quarter.

“Those stops early in the game really were exciting for us, especially after they controlled the ball for so long,” Blackstock said.

The Dragons then marched 80 yards in eight plays, highlighted by C.J. Witt’s 32-yard run and Jack Wellman’s 20-yard dash to the end zone, to take the lead, 7-0, early in the second quarter.

Both teams’ defenses tightened up until a little over a minute left in the half when, on the first down from the Lake Orion 22-yard line, Dragon Raymond Payne broke free for a 78-yard touchdown to put his team up, 14-0.

After a long kickoff return, the Cougars passed the ball on seven consecutive plays, capped by a touchdown throw with only 25 seconds left before the break to cut Lake Orion’s lead to 14-7.

Neither team could muster much offense in the third quarter, but the Dragons did start a 17-play play drive at the 1:16 mark that covered nearly 10 minutes and capped by kicker Jacob Lee’s 24-yard field goal to put Lake Orion up 17-7 with 4:32 left in the game.

“It was nice to put the shoe on the other foot, eat some clock and come away with some points on that drive,” Blackstock said. “We would’ve preferred a touchdown, of course, but the field goal made it a two-score game with less than five minutes left.”

Lake Orion quarterback Kyler Carson only threw the ball twice in the game, but he completed a 10-yard pass on fourth down to keep the drive going and set up the field goal.

Lake Orion then took advantage of Cougar penalties that stalled their offense and they turned the ball over on downs at the Dragon 40-yard line. On the third play of the ensuing drive, Roberson ripped a 56-yard touchdown run to finish the scoring, putting Lake Orion up 24-7.

“Billy is running really tough and physical right now,” Blackstock said. “He does a great job of finding a tiny, little crease to run through. He’s also done a nice job with ball security.”

Blackstock also was impressed with the play of its defensive unit. They only gave up one touchdown on 58 Cougar offensive plays, including stops on 11 of 13 third down conversions. Dragon linebackers Ethan Strand and Naisr Lardell led the team with 10 tackles each. Defensive lineman Joey Thede played another strong game with nine tackles, four for losses, and a sack.

“I thought we did a nice job containing their run game,” Blackstock said. “Their passing game too, considering they fell behind and had to throw the ball a lot. Our guys made some plays when they had to.”

This week, Lake Orion travels to Clarkston for their annual grudge match with the Wolves. Clarkston (5-1) lost in overtime last week to West Bloomfield.

Blackstock expects another typical Clarkston team – one that plays sound, fundamental football and does not commit self-inflicted mistakes. Then there’s the challenge of facing a very physical offensive line and a top-notch quarterback who throws to skilled receivers, he said.

“We’ve improved a lot during the past couple of weeks in all phases of the game,” Blackstock said. “We’ll have to play even better against Clarkston.”