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10/14/07-Football
Eaglets ground the Pilots
OLSM locks up slot in CHSL's A-B final at Ford Field
By KEITH DUNLAP Of The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE--Both Orchard Lake St. Mary's and Warren De La Salle knew they were going to be playing at Ford Field next week against another Catholic League Central Division opponent in the CHSL's Prep Bowl.
The only thing that needed to be decided is which one would be playing in the afternoon game or the more desired night contest.
That honor will go to St. Mary's, which not only will get to sleep in, but it will play for the Catholic League A-B championship on Saturday at Ford Field after recording a 28-12 win over De La Salle in a battle of two of the three first place teams in the CHSL Central.
St. Mary's will meet Birmingham Brother Rice for the second time in three years in the A-B final at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, Warren De La Salle will settle for playing Novi Detroit Catholic Central in the wild card game at 1 p.m.
"We did what I hoped we could do," St. Mary's head coach George Porritt said. "We ran the football, and our offensive line down the stretch made some nice holes."
There were two main reasons why St. Mary's was victorious, and Porritt just mentioned the first one.
St. Mary's (6-1, 4-1) controlled the game with a methodical rushing attack, which produced 239 yards as a team and made sure time of possession was skewed largely in favor of the Eaglets by the time the game ended.
In the second half, St. Mary's ran 39 plays, while De La Salle ran 17.
Senior running back Dominique White led the Eaglets with 113 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries.
The other big reason why St. Mary's came out on top was that it won the turnover battle, forcing three De La Salle turnovers while giving it up only once.
"We had a lot of screw-ups," De La Salle head coach Paul Verska said. "You can't give a good team the ball inside your 30-yard line three times and expect to win."
The first of those turnovers came late in the first quarter, when St. Mary's Earnest Thomas sacked De La Salle's quarterback and forced a fumble that was recovered by St. Mary's senior Jason Semmes at De La Salle's 11-yard line.
Two plays later, the Eaglets went up 7-0 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Robert Bolden to junior fullback Justin Semmes, with 14 second left in the first quarter.
De La Salle (6-2, 3-2) answered and tied the game at 7-7 with 10:41 remaining in the first half on a 35-yard touchdown run by Kyle Torzy, but the Eaglets took the lead right back, taking a 14-7 lead with 6:13 to go in the first half, on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Bolden to Jason Semmes.
The Eaglets then went up 21-7 with 2:31 left in the third quarter on a 21-yard touchdown run by White, although De La Salle wasn't quite finished. Torzy ran it in from 28 yards out with 10:41 left in the game to shave the lead to 21-13, although the extra point was missed.
Not that it mattered, because St. Mary's finished the Pilots off with an epic drive on its ensuing possession.
The Eaglets went 74 yards in 16 plays and chewed off 6:45 off the clock, a masterpiece that was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Justin Semmes with 4:15 left in the game.
"What a beautiful drive that last drive was," Porritt said. "I credit the whole offensive line with that drive. That's a tough defensive football team over there. When you win football games like that, you're proud of them". So now the Eaglets will get ready for a rematch with Brother Rice, a team the Eaglets pummeled at home earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, De La Salle hopes to beat Catholic Central a second time this year after recording an overtime win at home on Sept. 22.
The Pilots are still trying to adjust to life without star running back Chad O'Shell, who suffered a season-ending leg injury in last week's loss to Brother Rice.
"We've got a lot of kids who are trying to fill in for him," Verska said. "We're doing a running back by committee, moving guys in and out and playing them at different positions. It's an adjustment period for us and hopefully we'll get better next week and the week after that."
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