What looked like certain defeat turned into stunning victory with one kick, as Jeff Heath’s leg sent Lake Orion to the state’s final four in football for the first time since 1998.
Heath hit a 49-yarder, as time expired, to beat host Sterling Heights Stevenson Friday night in a thrilling Division 1 regional final, 38-36.
Just minutes earlier, the Stevenson sideline was celebrating what looked to be a sure come-from-behind victory. They trailed 35-7 midway through the third quarter before turning things around on offense.
The Titans took a 36-35 lead with 3:43 remaining, scoring 29 unanswered points in less than 13 minutes.
When the Dragons turned it over on downs with 1:44 on the clock, it looked like they would come up short in a regional final for the third time in the past four years.
Stevenson couldn’t quite run out the clock, however, punting it back to Lake Orion and giving the Dragons one final chance, from their own 45-yard-line with 9 seconds left.
Sean Charette threw a 23-yard pass to Charles Fleck, who was able to get out-of-bounds at the 32-yard-line, which set up the heroics from Heath.
‘It’s the best feeling of my life,? Heath said. ‘We deserved that win. We did not deserve to be up by 28 points and lose that game.?
The kick was easily the longest of the senior captain’s career. He made a game-winning 23-yarder against Romeo in the opening round of last year’s playoffs, but that paled in comparison.
The victory sends Lake Orion to a date with Dearborn Fordson next Saturday. It also earned them a school-record 11-win season.

A tale of two halves
Lake Orion fell behind 7-0 when Stevenson’s Jason Fracassa hit D.J. Mershman for 37 yards and a score, following a fake punt kept the drive alive. After that, however, the Dragons scored 35 unanswered points.
The first score, a three-yard Eric Knoblock run on fourth down, was set up by a well designed 40-yard QB keeper by Charette on the final play of the first quarter.
Lake Orion scored on their next two possessions, a one-yard Marques Stevenson run and a nine-yard Mike Nelson grab (again on fourth down), while getting stops on defense to take a 21-7 lead at the half.
After the teams traded three-and-outs to start the third quarter, the Dragons marched 76 yards, all on the ground, to go up 21 points. The drive was capped by a 33-yard Branden Oakes run, in which the senior running back spun out of a pile at the line of scrimmage, found the sideline and hit overdrive.
Four plays later, Ben Kanda blocked a Stevenson punt and Mikael Lott picked it up, running seven yards for another score.
It looked like the rout was on, but Stevenson had other plans.
Fracassa hit Thomas Beaurem for 20 yards and a score, which was followed by an inexplicable, but successful two-point conversion.
‘We didn’t know why they were going for two, but it worked out for them,? Lake Orion Coach Chris Bell said. ‘When it was 35-7, though, we knew it wasn’t over. They scored once and got some life, and we got on our heels a little bit. That’s playoff football.?
Fracassa found Mershman on a 52-yard TD pass and, on the second play of the fourth quarter, Justice Wright ran five yards for another score.
The Dragons, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball after amassing 229 yards on the ground in the first half.
‘We were pretty stubborn,? Bell said. ‘We wanted to eat the clock and we didn’t want to turn the ball over and put our quarterback in that situation if we didn’t have to.?
‘They just kept scoring quick,? Bell said. ‘And that kid (Fracassa) is good. They were just half a step here and half a step there.?
At 35-29, Lake Orion found themselves in a game again, without the momentum.
Charette, who completed just four of his 16 attempts threw two interceptions in the early part of the fourth quarter (they bookended a Dragons interception, courtesy of Heath).
After the second Stevenson pick, with 7:11 remaining, the Titans went 52 yards, ending with a one-yard Fracassa keeper, to take a 36-35 lead.

A miracle finish
On their next possession, the Dragons picked up a pair of first downs, but turned it over on downs with 1:44 remaining, all but dashing their hopes.
Fracassa then took a knee, prompting LO to use their final timeout. Realizing, then, that they couldn’t simply run out the clock, Stevenson lost three yards on a run up the middle and 19 more when Fracassa killed more time running backwards.
The yardage, however proved costly, as Fleck fair caught the subsequent punt at his own 45.
Bell said Lake Orion was prepared to just throw it deep, but changed their plans after a Stevenson timeout.
‘Their time out helped us, because we got a chance to see how they were playing us,? he said. ‘We noticed they had a corner that was walked down and we thought he would jump Mike Nelson’s route. So we had Mike run a short route and got Charles in behind him on the corner route. And Sean and Charles just made a play.?
Then on came Heath, who admitted he’s never really even attempted anything from more than 30 yards out.
‘I didn’t even see it go through,? he said. ‘I just kicked it as hard as I could and turned around and heard everyone go crazy.?
Heath said he was aided by the fact that there wasn’t enough time to think about what was at stake. Afterwards, however, he said the kick was not the important play.
‘The play of the game was the pass to Charles,? Heath noted. ‘Without that we don’t even get to try a field goal.?
Charette finished with just 54 yards passing, but as he has all season, he managed to complete the most important pass of the game.
‘It was the perfect guy running that route,? Charette said. ‘Charles Fleck’s got a lot of speed and Mike Nelson drew the coverage to leave him open.?
‘The offensive line did a great job blocking and everything went right,? he added.
Bell said Heath was likely going to get a shot if the Dragons crossed the Stevenson 40.
‘We know he’s got the leg,? Bell said. ‘He’s a borderline division 1 soccer player.?

Marching on
The game didn’t exactly go according to plan for Lake Orion, particularly given their 28-point lead midway through the third quarter. But as Bell said, not much goes according to plan in the playoffs.
‘It was a great learning experience for the guys,? the coach said with a smile. ‘This is just another reason for these guys to believe.?
Kim Bruce finished with 145 yards on 24 carries (90 coming in the first half) to lead the LO attack. Danny Ney (8 carries, 83 yards) and Oakes (12 for 76) also contributed to the team’s 379 yards on the ground.
Fracassa threw for 330 yards (193 in the second half) and three scores. Mershman had 183 yards from scrimmage, including six catches and two TDs.
Up next for LO is Dearborn Fordson (12-0), the only undefeated team remaining in Division 1. The Tractors beat Detroit Southeastern, 29-18, in a regional final.
Hassan Amen and Ali Alaboody lead the ground attack behind QB Ali Baidoun. Walker Zaban is in his second year at the helm for Fordson, the 1993 Class AA state champs.
Defending state runner-up Livonia Stevenson and Rockford (the only team to beat LO this season) will meet in the other semifinal. That game will take place at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing at 10:30 on Saturday.
Lake Orion’s game against Fordson will take plact at 7 p.m. that day at Troy Athens. It will be televised live on the MHSAA Network. Tickets are $6.