The statistical anomalies all pointed to a loss on opening night for Lake Orion.
Chris Lum threw as many interceptions (5) in one game as he did the entire 2006 season (11 games).
The Dragons allowed not one, but two third quarter touchdown plays of over 90 yards.
Their opponent, Oak Park had a pair of rushers go over 100 yards in the game.
But, when it was all said and done, 20 unanswered points at the beginning of the fourth quarter was all LO needed to hang on for a 34-25 victory.
‘The first game is about survival,? Coach Chris Bell said of the victory. ‘A win is a win.?
The game was delayed about one hour and 20 minutes because of stormy weather.
When play got underway, the Dragons opened the scoring late in the first quarter on a 14-yard run by senior transfer A.J. Palko, in his first carry as a Dragon.
The lead ballooned to 14 points after a short touchdown run by Cortez McKinley in the second quarter. A late Oak Park touchdown narrowed the gap to 14-6 at halftime.
With a roster of just 27 players, the Knights put a scare in to LO early in the third, scoring first on a Joevall Hoesay 91-yard run, and then taking the lead by turning a good-looking Dragon drive into a 99-yard Jonathan Bryant interception return.
On the ensuing drive, it appeared that LO would have to punt the ball away. But a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty against the Knights gave the Dragons 15 yards on 4th-and-14, turning the ball back to Lake Orion to start the final quarter.
‘It was a great time for them to seize the moment,? Bell said. ‘When things were looking pretty bad for us, they kept their poise.?
The Dragons did just that, scoring on an 18-yard Palko run and then getting the ball right back and converting a long fourth down with a 28-yard Lum to Ryan Broth TD connection.
Branden Oakes added an 11-yard TD run to put the game out of reach.
‘We knew that they didn’t have a lot of players and that we could wear them down,? Bell said. ‘I think we dominated the game physically.?
Oak Park scored in the game’s final 10 seconds to account for the final score.
Though Hoesay and Adwin Baker both finished with over 100 yards on the ground, the Dragon running game was equally efficient, getting 126 yards on 20 carries from McKinley and 77 yards on 10 carries from Palko.
Lum threw for 109 yards on an 11-for-26 night.
‘We forced a couple of throws and made some mistakes running routes,? Bell said of the aerial attack. ‘That’s something we’ve just got to improve.?
The Dragons will get right back to action at Troy on Thursday night, the game moved up a night because of the Labor Day holiday. Kickoff is slated for 6:55 p.m. and a gameday preview can be found right here at lakeorionreview.com.