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11/5/06-Football
Redemption
WL Central stuns OLSM, 35-27, en route to district championship
By KEITH DUNLAP
Of The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE - When Walled Lake Central lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the first round of last year's Division 2 state football playoffs, the defeat gnawed away at the returning Viking players so much that a rallying cry was born.
A motto of "Unfinished Business" was adopted, which might not have been a more prevalent theme for the Vikings entering a rematch with St. Mary's in a district final on Saturday.
"We've been waiting for this game since last year when we walked off that field with our heads down," Central senior Kevin Long said. "We just wanted to do it for the seniors and last year's class."
Consider the loss avenged, as Central walked off the field with its heads way up after eliminating St. Mary's from the playoffs with a 35-27 win.
Central (10-2) advanced to meet Davison in a regional final next week at Davison, so that "Unfinished Business" motto is still in effect despite the fact that the Vikings paid the Eaglets back.
The Vikings grabbed a 14-0 halftime lead and held off a furious St. Mary's rally in the second half, mainly because Central answered each touchdown by the Eaglets with scores of its own.
Central's offensive line was the story of the game, as it paved the way for Viking running backs to rush for 286 yards.
"We know what they were going to try and stop us on, but our O-line is so versatile, we had other options," Central head coach Bob Meyer said. "We just took what they gave us."
The Vikings scored first on a 71-yard touchdown run by junior Steve Robinson with 4:08 left in the first quarter, and then Central went up 14-0 on a 21-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Torrey Stimson to senior tight end Jesse Caddell with 47 seconds left in the first half.
Despite having an explosive offense with three players committed to Division 1 college programs -- quarterback Justin Siller (Purdue) and wideouts Taurian Washington (Ohio State) and Dionte Allen (Florida State) -- St. Mary's has had problems scoring points this year, although that changed in the second half on Saturday.
The Eaglets scored four touchdowns, the first of which came courtesy of a 3-yard run by junior running back Dominique White with 8:49 left in the third quarter.
St. Mary's forced Central to punt on the Vikings' next possession, but a roughing the punter penalty gave the Vikings a first down and new life, which they took full advantage of.
Following a 49-yard run by Robinson, Long scored on a 2-yard run to make it 21-7 Central with 6:15 left in the third quarter.
St. Mary's answered on a 16-yard touchdown run by White with 3:24 remaining in the third, but Central struck back.
Facing a third-and-12 from the St. Mary's 28-yard line, Stimson three pass into the back of the end zone to Caddell, who outfought Siller for the ball and managed to get a foot in bounds for a touchdown that made it 28-14 with 8:58 left in the game.
Siller then hit sophomore Suave Lavallis for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 7:38 remaining to cut the lead back to seven at 28-21, but the Vikings went up 35-21 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Long with 4:48 left, which capped off a six-play, 58-yard drive.
The Eaglets didn't go away, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown from Siller to Allen with 2:51 remaining to make the score 35-27. St. Mary's went for a two-point conversion run, but was stopped.
St. Mary's had one last chance after forcing a Central punt and getting the ball back at its own 28 with 1:35 left, but the Vikings stopped the Eaglets on downs to end the game.
"The kids have dedicated their season to getting to this point, and now you can say we're going into uncharted waters for this program," Meyer said. "But we're more than happy to be there and look forward to Davison."
On the other hand, St. Mary's saw a season that started with sky-high expectation -- the Eaglets were ranked among the top-25 teams in the nation by Sports Illustrated -- end in disappointing fashion.
"Every year, you have seniors and they work their butts off," St. Mary's head coach George Porritt said. "If you don't win it, you're disappointed, and we're disappointed. My kids worked their butts off."
Siller went 11 of 13 passing for 172 yards and those two touchdowns in the second half for St. Mary's.
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