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9/23/07-Football
Emphatic answer
Eaglets make statement with trouncing of Brother Rice
By KEITH DUNLAP of The Oakland Press
ORCHARD LAKE--The inquiry of how good Orchard Lake St. Mary's was entering Saturday's game with Birmingham Brother Rice was punctuated by a question mark.
The answer of 'really good' given by the Eaglets was punctuated by multiple exclamation points.
Offense, defense, special teams, you name the facet of the game and the Eaglets made statements in every one, romping to a stunning, 40-21 beatdown of Brother Rice in a showdown of traditional football powers in the county and the Catholic League Central Division.
As surprising as the final margin of victory was, the fact that the game wasn't even that close was even more alarming.
One of Brother Rice's three touchdowns came late in the game during garbage time, while the other two were largely a result of gift-wrapped turnovers by St. Mary's.
"We weren't sure what we were yet," St. Mary's head coach George Porritt said. "We got it rolling, it was homecoming, and we were very fortunate."
Not to mention very dominant, as the stats spoke to just how superior St. Mary's (4-0, 2-0) was.
St. Mary's controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, outrushing the Warriors, 279-34, and collecting 21 first downs to Brother Rice's eight.
Six of those eight first downs for Brother Rice (3-2, 1-1) came in the fourth quarter, when the game was already decided.
In addition, St. Mary's had 31:20 of possession time to 16:40 for Brother Rice.
"They destroyed us in every phase of the game," Brother Rice head coach Al Fracassa said. "They were good and I think this is the best they've looked. It was one of those days."
Indeed it was, as St. Mary's opened the scoring with 8:37 left in the first quarter on a 27-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Robert Bolden to junior wideout Dion Sims.
Brother Rice tied the game at 7-7 with 3:23 remaining in the first on a 43-yard fumble return for a touchdown by senior Mazen Jaddou, but the Eaglets regained the lead at 13-7 with 7:53 to go in the first half on a 19-yard touchdown run by senior Dominique White, who capped off a drive that went 85 yards in 14 plays with 7:25 elapsed off of the clock.
Following a Brother Rice punt, St. Mary's coughed up the punt return on its own 19-yard line, giving the Warriors a golden opportunity. Two plays later, Brother Rice senior running back Caulton Ray scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to make it 14-13 Brother Rice with 5:34 remaining in the first half.
Unfortunately for Brother Rice, the roof caved in after that.
St. Mary's took a 19-14 lead with 49 seconds left in the first half on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Bolden to senior Demetrius Jackson before the floodgates really opened in the second half.
The Eaglets scored on their first possession of the second half on a 28-yard touchdown run by White, and then took a 33-14 lead on a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown by junior Suave Lavallis.
St. Mary's then grabbed a 40-14 lead with 4:13 left in the third on a 42-yard touchdown run by junior Sam Fioroni.
Brother Rice rounded out the scoring with 2:24 remaining in the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Frankie Popp to junior Mark Makoski.
White finished with 115 yards rushing and those two touchdowns and 17 carries and junior Justin Semmes rushed for 83 yards on 17 carries to lead St. Mary's, which will play at Novi Detroit Catholic Central next Sunday.
"We have a good team and we wanted to show our abilities," White said. "We did it today."
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