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8/27/05-Football
One week doesn't make a season
By Keith Langlois of The Oakland Press
OXFORD — Oxford was already 24 points down late in the second quarter when John Rutkowski got separated from his senses, an offensive lineman blindsided during the return of another Orchard Lake St. Mary's interception. They helped him to his feet, and he staggered toward the home team's sideline, but before he could get there, his stomach violently rejected whatever he'd ingested for lunch.
He kept wobbling, though, and made it to the bench, where he again spewed forth a palate of many hues.
Not a minute later, he was hydrating himself by guzzling Gatorade cups of water, smiling at familiar faces in the crowd and giving loved ones the thumbs up. And the next time the Wildcats got the football, there was John Rutkowski, back in the game.
They might have weak stomachs, the Oxford Wildcats, but they have stout hearts.
“It's week one,” growled their coach, Bud Rowley, a guy who ought to be on a Marines recruiting poster. “It's high school football. We got waxed, but our kids never quit. It's only week one. We have 13 weeks left.”
Thirteen weeks, in case you hadn't done the math, would put the Wildcats in the state championship game.
“That's right,” said Rowley, clad in his usual hideous, school-bus-yellow pants and blue Oxford shirt. “That's Ford Field.”
Pretty lofty expectations for the coach of a team that had just lost its season opener, 44-3, to Orchard Lake St. Mary's, which might not be as good as advertised. After watching the Eaglets, I peg them as no better than a third- or fourth-place team … in the Big Ten.
St. Mary's comes at you in waves with a bunch of burners, most of them juniors. Senior tailback Anthony Bowman is headed to Iowa , but it seemed like everybody else who found the end zone for the Eaglets was an underclassman.
And the Eaglets found the end zone early and often. They got there eight times in the first half alone, four of them wiped out by penalties, and forced five Oxford turnovers.
“Foolish penalties,” St. Mary's coach George Porritt groused. “Not very smart.”
But the hint of a smile betrayed his words, and who could blame him? You wouldn't rule out Rowley making good on his vow to finish the season at Ford Field, but you'd be blown away if Porritt's team didn't.
Oxford probably has the best team in the Flint Metro League, and the town was abuzz leading up to Friday's game. They love their football in Oxford . The game program they hand out as you enter the second-year stadium, situated in a natural bowl atop a hill at the new school just east of Lapeer Road , contains ads from 81 local merchants – who knew there were 81 merchants in Oxford ?
It's not such a sleepy little town anymore, but still one where word-of-mouth advertising spreads the gospel. And in Oxford , everybody knew the Wildcats had come out of scrimmages against Lake Orion and Holt looking mighty good.
Porritt, conversely, was taken aback when Clarkston throttled St. Mary's in their scrimmage the previous week. But Oxford simply couldn't handle St. Mary's off-the-charts speed.
A dozen times, Oxford looked like its ball carrier had the corner turned, often when quarterback Bill Keenist was running the option. But, invariably, the St. Mary's defense would arrive and cut them off at the pass.
“That was the difference,” said Keenist, an ice pack taped to his sprained right ankle. “Take away their speed, and it's a different game.”
Keenist's dad is a senior vice president with the Lions, and he watched the game from atop the press box with Matt Millen. It might have begun as a lark for Millen, but by the end of the night, he'd probably begun a dossier on a few St. Mary's players, junior defensive back-receiver Dionte Allen, already offered a scholarship to Michigan , foremost among them.
St. Mary's always has a pretty fast team, but even by its standards, Porritt admits, they're different this year.
“Oh, yeah, ” he agreed. “We're fast.”
Oxford couldn't catch up Friday night. But, as Rowley barked after the game, there are 13 weeks to go. And if Oxford 's stomachs can hold up, he's certain the Wildcats have the heart to outlast every one of them.
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