| ROCHESTER HILLS—The Lake Orion Dragons came to Adams
ready to breathe fire, but the Highlander freshmen extinguished
their hopes of victory with an impressive 42-14 win.
After the way the Dragons roughed up Rochester the week before, the fans expected a tough battle. But the Highlanders had their best offensive game of the season and took advantage of turnovers to cruise to their third straight win. After both teams punted on their first possessions, the Highlanders got the ball back on their own 37 yard line. Tyler Martin ran for a couple of first downs, and got some help from a pass interference penalty that moved the ball to the Lake Orion 16. A few plays later, halfback Marc Benacquisto ripped off a 19-yard touchdown run, thanks to a big hole on the right side of the line. The point after attempt failed, and Rochester Adams led 6-0 with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter. |
Photos by Jill Olmack
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In the second quarter, Adams got great field
position on the Lake Orion 26 thanks to a fumbled punt snap by the
Dragons. Benacquisto then did his best Jerome Bettis imitation with
a 24-yard run, dragging several Dragons on h is back until they
finally brought him down on the 2-yard line. Tyler Martin scored on
the next play on a QB keeper. The conversion attempt again failed
however, and the Highlanders led 12-0 with 10:55 left in the first
half.
The Dragons got decent field position on their own 40 thanks to a 20-yard kick return by Vinnie Booker. Staring at 3rd down and 12, quarterback Derek Coe lofted a pass toward the sideline, but Andrew Morrissey made an acrobatic, one-handed catch for the interception, and then returned the ball 25 yards to the Adams 45. It was at this point that the Highlanders offensive line started to dominate their opponents, opening up huge holes for the backs. Two long runs gave Adams a first down at the Lake Orion 27. Mark Benacquisto then became the beneficiary of one of those huge holes in the line, |
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and #26 ran 26 yards for his second touchdown of the game. The 2 point conversion was successful, thanks to a run by Alec Prechtel, and Adams led 20-0 with 6:55 to go in the half. Turnovers proved costly to the Dragons all game, and they got burned again on the ensuing possession by fumbling the ball in their backfield. Tommy Roncelli recovered on the Adams 45 with 6:10 on the first half clock. Tyler Martin gained 23 yards on a run around the end to move the ball to the Lake Orion 22. On the next play, he lofted a pass to Morrissey who was streaking toward the end zone. Even though he was double-covered, Andrew used his height advantage, timed his jump perfectly and picked the ball out of the air for a great touchdown catch. The PAT failed, but now Adams had a comfortable 26-0 lead going into halftime.
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The Lake Orion coaches must have made some
adjustments at the half, because the Dragons came out strong. QB
Derek Coe was very poised in the pocket, and he combined some nice
runs with accurate passes to wide open receivers and quickly moved
the ball to midfield. Coe then found Vinnie Booker who had snuck
behind the defense and was wide open for a 52-yard touchdown. The
2-point conversion pass was good, and the Dragons were finally on
the board.
Both defenses stiffened at this point, and the teams traded punts for several possessions. But at the 5:24 mark, Coe found another wide open receiver – Mike Nelson – for a 33 yard TD pass. The PAT failed, but perhaps the vaunted Dragon offense had come alive, and now they trailed Adams by only two scores, 26-14.
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| The Highlanders offense still had a lot of life,
too. After Alec Prechtel recovered a fumble, Martin found receiver
TJ Trouba over the middle for a touchdown. It was a key play, as it
shifted the momentum back to the Highlanders just when it looked
like Lake Orion was going to make it the battle everyone expected.
The PAT was good, and Adams led 34-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
The Dragons continued to use the pass to move the ball downfield in the fourth quarter. With a first down and goal on the 10-yard line, the Dragons QB fired a pass toward the end zone. But with perfect timing Marc Benacquisto stepped in front of the intended receiver just as he was about to make the catch. However, it was Benacquisto who caught the ball, and he had nothing but 90 yards of green turf in front of him. It was his third – and most spectacular – touchdown of the game, and it sealed the win as the Highlanders were up 42-14 with just over seven minutes left. |
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| While there was no more scoring in the
game, Adams did exhibit great ball control on its last possession.
Using a herd of Highlander running backs, they methodically moved
the ball and kept the clock moving, as well.
Dan Park,
Luke Nicholaou,
David Addy,
Michael Cocozzo and
Kevin Soisson gained
positive yards and consumed nearly seven minutes off the clock,
until it hit zero and Adams remained unbeaten with a 42-14 victory.
The next game is at Groves, Sept. 13, 4:30 p.m. |
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