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10/29/06-Football
Mud can't slow down Eaglets
Orchard Lake St. Mary's rolls over playoff newcomer Lakeland, 34-0
By KEITH DUNLAP
Of The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE - Playing on a field with lots of it, the running game for Orchard Lake St. Mary's certainly wasn't stuck in the mud on Saturday against Lakeland.
Starting its playoff run on a pigpen type home field, the Eaglets controlled the clock to perfection with a grind-it-out running game and took advantage of an assortment of Lakeland miscues, rolling to a 34-0 win in a Division 2 first-round playoff game.
St. Mary's advanced to host Walled Lake Central in a district final next week, a rematch of a district final game last year between the teams, won 35-26 by St. Mary's.
The Eaglets (8-2) hope to have similar success on the ground next week against the Vikings than they did against Lakeland, in a game that saw St. Mary's grind out 211 yards on the ground and run 69 plays to Lakeland's 31.
"Today, that's all you could do, " St. Mary's George Porritt said of his ground-dominated attack. "You couldn't do much more. We threw a few passes there, but you didn't know where the heck the ball was going. Just some tough running by our backs today, I thought."
St. Mary's opened the scoring with 7:15 left on a 2-yard touchdown run by Blair Hollis that made it 7-0 Eaglets. The run by Hollis capped off a 19-play, 70-yard drive that took 9:40 off the clock.
The key play was a 15-yard run by senior quarterback Justin Siller down to the Lakeland 2-yard line on fourth-and-10.
Later in the second quarter, following a 4-yard punt by Lakeland, the Eaglets took advantage of some good field position with 47 seconds left until halftime.
Starting at the Lakeland 31, Siller closed out a four-play drive by running the ball into the end zone from 6 yards out to give St. Mary's a 14-0 lead going into halftime.
St. Mary's then surprised Lakeland with an onside kick to start the second half, recovering the kick at the Eagles' 43-yard line.
The Eaglets saw their drive stall on downs at the Lakeland 29, but the roof caved in for the Eagles after that.
Four plays after a Lakeland fumble at its own 24, St. Mary's took a 21-0 lead on a 12-yard touchdown run by Siller with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter.
The Eagles then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which ended up resulting in a 28-0 deficit after Siller found senior Taurian Washington for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 4:49 left in the third.
Upon getting the ball back, Lakeland fumbled on the first play of its next possession, and St. Mary's took advantage again, as senior Ben Caplinger scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to end a 34-yard drive and make it 34-0 St. Mary's with 1:39 left.
Lakeland turned the ball over five times on fumbles in the second half.
"We told our kids that there were two good football teams and whoever made the least mistakes was going to win," Lakeland coach John Maltese said. "That team turned out to be Orchard Lake."
The Eagles still have good reason to be proud of their season, given they finished 6-4 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1982.
"There's a lot of memories," Maltese said. "There's a lot of great things about making the playoffs and building a program. The seniors worked hard to make the playoffs and we're headed in the right direction."
Copyright 2006, St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake, Michigan. All rights reserved.
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