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10/14/06-Football
Eaglets fall short of Prep Bowl, lose to Pilots
By JAKE SHARFMAN
Special to The Oakland Press
WARREN--Orchard Lake St. Mary's hopes of winning the Catholic League championship were destroyed Friday night by Warren De La Salle.
The Eaglets (6-2, 3-2 CHSL Central) were beat in every aspect of the game, losing 14-7, on a cold night in Warren, where they needed to win to make the league championship Prep Bowl.
The usual high-powered Eaglet offense was held nearly silent by a Pilots' defense that was on a mission from the opening kickoff. St. Mary's was unable to move the ball on the ground or in the air the entire night.
"Our offense on a whole has been way too inconsistant. We just couldn't get anything going on that side of the ball tonight," Eaglets coach George Porritt said. "We didn't run the ball nearly as tough as we wanted to. We have to credit their defense, they kept the pressure on us."
Down seven points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, St. Mary's had the ball and a chance to drive down the field to tie the game. Two completions by quarterback Justin Siller to Dionte Allen moved the Eaglets into De La Salle territory. Siller then broke an 18-yard down the sideline. However, the Pilots defense came up big in a big situation, stuffing Siller on fourth down turning the ball over to De La Salle.
Outside of the final drive, the only glimmer of hope the Eaglets' offense showed all night was on a hurry-up drive right before halftime. Quarterback Justin Siller connected with sophomore receiver Suave Lavallis on a 43-yard pitch-and-catch to put St. Mary's in the Pilots' red zone. Siller then scored the lone touchdown for the Eaglets on a 1-yard quarterback draw.
"It was one of the very few times we were on that side of the field," Porritt added.
Siller finished the game 8-for-16 passing for 107 yards and rushed the ball six times for 28 yards and a touchdown.
The Pilots' offense, on the other hand, was very effective moving the ball against the Eaglets' defense. Senior tailback Jimmy Berezik had a huge night taking 19 carries and rushing for 128 yards.
"He is just a great, great back that came up big for us once again tonight," De La Salle head coach Paul Verska said. "He has been leading us all season and we hope he can continue."
De La Salle (7-1, 4-1 CHSL Central) was determined to get ahead of the Eaglets on their opening drive. The Pilots drove right down the field but were unable to connect on a field goal. The Pilots missed two kicks on the night.
De La Salle, however, punched one in the end zone on their second drive of the game. A 25-yard touchdown pass from Brian Lewis to junior receiver David Blackburn gave the Pilots an early 7-0 lead. Lewis hit Don Fowler on a five-yard touchdown for his second touchdown on the night early in the fourth quarter which proved to be the game-winning score.
"We were trying to just come out here playing hard and to compete. You really have to pick your poison with a team like St. Mary's," Verska added. "They have six Division I collegiate players on their team and we have choir boys who just play hard, and we were successful doing that tonight."
With the victory, De La Salle will take on Birmingham Brother Rice in the Prep Bowl next Saturday at Ford Field to determine the outright winner of the Catholic League. Rice beat De La Salle last week 10-6 in Warren giving the Pilots their only loss of the season. Rice also gave the Eaglets their only loss of the season prior to Friday night.
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