Dragon Head Football Coach Chris Bell knows his stats.
He said, for example, last Friday the Dragon defense contained Grand Blanc to 137 offensive yards, a meager 31 of which were on the ground, and severely restricted play by the second all-time quarterback in passing yards in Genesee County history.
And he said that Dragons took 472 yards in offense, 345 on the ground and 127 through the air.
He didn’t mention, though, that Friday’s win gave Lake Orion their fourth district championship in six years.’And this season, Dragons have outscored opponents a whopping 463-110.
Fifty-four of those points came at the expensive of Grand Blanc, who could only tally 14.
Last Friday, the whole team played well, said Bell, noting that strong performances from Marques Stevenson, Sean Charette , Cole Schaenzer, Dillion Siterlet and Alex Fine helped tremendously.
Stevenson had 288 yards rushing, 15 carries and four touchdowns. He scored on runs of two yards, 74 yards, 80 yards and 58 yards. Charette was very efficient in the air, said his coach, noting the quarterback went six for eight, for 127 yards and two touchdowns: A 41-yard touchdown pass when to Danny Ney for a touchdown, and a 10-yard touchdown pass when to Zach Zott.
‘Grand Blanc’s game plan was to crowd the line of scrimmage and bring pressure, and our offensive line handled their fronts and gave Marques running lanes,? said Bell, noting that Stevenson was able to make straight shots down the field. ‘A lot of credit goes to the offensive lines for creating those avenues.?
Now, Dragons are among the final eight teams in the district. A win this Friday against Utica Eisenhower (10-1) will bring the team to the state semi-finals. Lake Orion will play the Eagles for their last game on home turf.
?(Eisenhower’s) offense has been getting better every week. Defensively, they’ve always been very good, very solid,? said Bell. He added that the Eagles start a sophomore quarterback.
‘They’re a lot like us. They’re not really big but they’ve got good team speed and they run the football, so it’s going to present a different type of challenge,? he said.
Bell noted that Eisenhower is very well coached with a long program history, ‘so it’s going to be a very good football game.?
As far as Dragons? strategy for the game, their coach says the boys will have to continue to play good fundamental football.
‘We have to continue to be very aggressive, defensively, and we have to continue to do a great job offensively by not turning the ball over, being physical and taking advantage of what their team is giving us,? he said. ‘If we play well, I like our chances. In the playoffs, if you don’t play well, it may be your last game.?
Should Dragons move forward, they’ll play the winner between Dakota and Detroit Cass Tech next week.