Troy Athens Football Can’t Keep Up With Lake Orion

LAKE ORION – The varsity football team dethroned the king on Friday night, but it didn't have an answer for Lake Orion's knight in shining armor. 

The Red Hawks shut down Dragons quarterback Sean Charette, who was named homecoming king at halftime, but allowed running back Jacob Miller to run all over them in a 28-14 loss.

Miller rushed for 284 yards on 35 carries and three touchdowns. His career night helped Lake Orion (6-1; 6-0 Oakland Activities Association Red) clinch a playoff spot and at least a share of a Red division title while dropping Athens down to third place.

“He’s been waiting for that his whole life,” Lake Orion head coach Chris Bell said. “Jacob’s a great back. We just rode our work horse, he was ripping off chunks, and we felt like we could shorten this game if we kept it going.”

In the second half, the junior broke tackle after tackle to help his team take the lead and run out the clock. He rushed for two touchdowns in the third quarter and helped limit Athens (5-2; 4-2 OAA Red) time of possession in the second half to less than five minutes (4:49).

With Lake Orion up 28-7, he picked up four first downs on a drive late in the game to help the Dragons run eight minutes off the clock.

“Defensively we couldn’t stop Miller running right up the gut,” Athens head coach Josh Heppner said. “They weren’t trying to get cute with us, they just pounded the rock. We have given up way too many rushing yards the last two games and that’s unacceptable.”

Heppner watched Lake Orion run 24 consecutive run plays on his defense at one point. But the Red Hawks' solid secondary was part of the reason the Dragons avoided throwing the ball.

In the first half, Charette was picked off twice in the end zone. The interceptions on back-to-back possessions kept the game close in the first half. The teams went into halftime tied 7-7. 

A 52-yard kick return by Nicholas Booker helped kick start the Lake Orion offense to start the third quarter.

“The kick return was great,” Bell said. “Our guys were a little upset at halftime, and that was Nick Booker just making a play, he’s done that all year. That gave us a spark to go in and score, that let our guys know it was time to go.”

Miller helped the Dragons go right up the field after the return. He capped off an eight-play drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. His second touchdown put Lake Orion up 14-7 with 8:30 left in the third. 

It would take four minutes for Miller to find the end zone again. Athens had a quick three-and-out on its first possession of the half and then Miller broke off a 66-yard run up the sidelines. He scored again on a 4-yard run to extend the Dragons lead to 14 points.

Lake Orion put the game out of reach two plays into the fourth quarter when Zachary Arnold scored on a 29-yard run to make it 28-7.

The Red Hawks offense could only watch as Lake Orion scored 21 unanswered points.

Athens didn’t have a first down for almost the entire second half. Sam Haskell’s 77-yard touchdown run on the team’s final possession accounted for almost all of team’s offense after halftime. 

“The second half blew my mind,” Heppner said. “ What you say from Sam Haskell at the end, is what we’ve been doing all year long. We’ve been averaging close to 31 points a game and 335 yards offense. We obviously didn’t do that today, and that was thoroughly disappointing.”

Athens will try to rebound next week against Farmington. All the teams in the OAA Red and OAA White play next week based on where the teams are in the standings. The Red Hawks game against the Falcons will be a matchup of third place teams.

“We have to bring our ‘A’ game and we’ll be fine,” Heppner said. “We finish 7-2 and we go to the playoffs. We’re going to fix it and move on.”

Lake Orion will play Harrison in a battle of the divisions’ top teams. Last year, the Hawks handed the Dragons their only loss of the season. This year the game will be on Harrison’s home field.