Stoney Creek Falls to Oak Park

Although the Stoney Creek Cougars managed only 7 points against Oak Park's 41-point showing on Thursday night, there were times when the game could have been considered a close one.

Instead, the Cougars ended the night with a 1-1 record.

Stoney Creek seemed destined to score in the first quarter until a bad snap led to a turnover, which put the team in a bind.

Though they were trailing, the Cougars performed well in the first half — save for two turnovers — and scored right before the half to bring the score to a manageable 14-7.

"At halftime I felt pretty good," Coach Calvin Gross said.

Despite making major adjustments to defensive tactics in order to avoid more turnovers, the Cougars did not fare well in the third quarter and allowed two more touchdowns to bring the score to 28-7.

"In the third quarter, something happened," Gross said. "We just did not play with energy they did." 

That loss of energy affected the team. There were glimpses of hope as the Cougars had some good runs, but they could not keep the ball. 

In the third quarter, junior Michael Angeli went down with an ankle injury and the Pirates continued their scoring streak to bring the game to a close.

Some positives

Gross said quarterback Brandon Arduino had a good showing after the first series and "did pretty well leading the offense."

Arduino was injured in last week's game against Port Huron Northern and sat out of practice all week. 

Senior wide receiver Austin Klozik had two catches before getting a concussion, Gross said. 

Looking at Week 3

The Cougars play at Farmington Hills Harrison next Friday.

"We could have played better than we did today," Gross said. "We don’t want to look ahead."

Instead, when it comes to preparing for the rest of the season, Gross will focus on looking back.

"We have to learn from this game first," Gross said. "We have to get better from this one, since Harrison’s a very good team."

For more on the Cougars, see the  page on Rochester Patch.