First and foremost shouts should go out to the squads at OL St. Mary's, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake Northern, Lakeland, Troy, Southfield, and Clawson who each kept its post-season hopes alive with big wins in WEEK 7 and moved its respective records to 4-3. These teams are living on a wing and a prayer. And watching them get the job done this week was encouraging to see. Every game from here on out is a playoff game and these teams know it.
St. Mary's bounced back big from a disappointing shutout loss to Catholic Central in Week 6 and took down a good Brother Rice team 34-27 in triple OT on Saturday afternoon. This game was an instant classic to put it mildly! Senior QB Robert Bolden (Penn State) sprinted 10 yards for a TD run on the first possession third OT to give the Eaglets the lead and then teammate Allen Robinson recovered a fumble in the end zone on the ensuing Warriors' possession to sew things up. Enrique Pardo led St. Mary's offensive production on the stat sheet by rushing for a game-high 103 yards. The Eaglets started the year 0-2. With the heart-pounding and much-needed 'W', the team's record is now all-evened up at 3-3.
De spite the loss, Rice senior QB Frankie Popp mesmerized the crowd with a sensational aerial performance. Popp connected on 25-of-49 passes for a season-high 365 yards and 3 TD's. Rice ace receiver, Kevonte Martin-Manley (Bowling Green) caught nine balls for 141 yards and two scores. The Warriors fall to 5-2 as a result of the heartbreaking defeat.
Just like St. Mary's, Troy had to rebound from a listless outing in Week 6 when it lost to Lake Orion. The Colts 38-20 win over Southfield-Lathrup constituted a Shaquille O'Neal like effort in that department for sure. Three Troy players eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark – "Bad Bad" Damon Brown carried the ball 14 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns, Chris "The Wizard" Wheeler had 20 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns, and Bobby "The Wonder Boy" Wunderlich, the Colts QB, had 11 carries for 116 yards and one score. Head Coach Gary Griffith and his crew have a megawatt home game against Southfield this coming Friday. I'm exciting to see a showdown of two of the county's best backfields in this match-up. I love me some Dae'von Robinson, Alonso Graham, and Mo Davenport, but right now I'd give the edge to Wheeler and Brown.
West Bloomfield has now won two straight after trouncing Troy Athens 3 5-14 on Friday night. Running back Vince Simpson sparked the Lakers offense with 92 yards on the ground and three rushing scores. Chris Heald had 15 tackles and a pair of sacks on defense. Senior wingback Cameron Fields scored two touchdowns as well – a 6-yard run and 35 pass from Phil Brown. The Lakers try to make it three in a row when they host an upstart Seaholm team, which claimed its first win of the season against Rochester on Friday, this weekend.
Lakeland and Clawson each opened up cans of destruction on its opponents in Week 7. The Eagles and Trojans both put up impressive offensive outings. Senior QB Rob Feeman threw for 225 yards and four TD's in Clawson's 47-0 thrashing of Mt. Clemens. Senior RB Howard Crippen ran for 142 yards and two scores in the decisive Trojans' 'W'.
Eric Kelly passed for 187 yards and two TD's in Lakeland's 34-8 toasting of Waterford Kettering. Running Back Jacob Brown ran for 104 yards and two TD's and Alex Chludzinski caught five balls for 147 yards and one score.
After losing a 10-7 game to Walled Lake Central in Week 6 on a late-fourth quarter TD pass, the20Knights of Walled Lake Northern have flipped the script. On Friday night, Northern beat Waterford Mott 10-7 and did it in dramatic fashion when Jason Tucker found David Auger for a 5-yard touchdown strike to propel the Knights to the victory.
you spelled my name wrong its DERRICK RUSSELL
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