Week One Recap.

Written Sunday August 28th at 4:30 PM
Updated to Include the West Bloomfield forfeit on Monday August 29th at 10:35 PM

INSIDE THE OAA TOP 10:

1. Berkley

2. Clarkston

3. Adams

4. Groves

5. Oak Park

6. Harrison

7. Bloomfield Hills

8. Oxford

9. West Bloomfield

10. Southfield Arts and Tech

Scores:

BERKLEY 29, Holly 26

FERNDALE 42, Lamphere 7

GROVES 1, WEST BLOOMFIELD 0

Chippewa Valley 27, ORION 7

Walled Lake Central 13, TROY 10

Warren Mott 28, TROY ATHENS 7

Walled Lake Western 41, FARMINGTON 14

New Boston Huron 22, AVONDALE 18

Warren Fitzgerald 65, HAZEL PARK 6

Walled Lake Northern 56, NORTH FARMINGTON 0

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 35, STONEY CREEK 16

CLARKSTON 28, Lapeer 7

OXFORD 27, Romeo 26

St. Clair Shores Lakeview 21, ROYAL OAK 0

Birmingham Brother Rice 27, SEAHOLM 3

ADAMS 33, ROCHESTER 14

Detroit Old Redford 21, PONTIAC 15

Detroit Martin Luther King 39, SOUTHFIELD A&T 0

East Kentwood 31, HARRISON 24

Detroit Cass Tech 45, OAK PARK 27

Thoughts:

Well this was a rough week for the OAA. The league went 4-13 in it's non league games this week, which is not good. Berkley beating Holly, Oxford over Romeo, Clarkston over Lapeer, and Ferndale over Lamphere were the only OAA big wins over non league teams.

I knew that Oak Park, Troy Athens, Orion, Harrison, Avondale, Farmington, Seaholm had tough games against good programs. However some teams just got crushed in week one, North Farmington losing 56-0 to Walled Lake Northern, Hazel Park giving up 65 points to Warren Fitzgerald. That's not a good way to start a season.

Besides the Southfield Arts and Tech loss, I was very disappointed in a few teams but for different reasons.

Lets start with Royal Oak, the Ravens were ranked 10th in the Inside the OAA poll last week for a reason, I thought that Royal Oak would had a great chance to make more progress with their program but instead they got shutout by Lakeview 21-0. The Huskies were 8-28 since 2012, that's not a good start and to make matters worse for the Ravens they play Stockbridge next whom should be mad after losing 32-18 to Grass Lake last week.

Stoney Creek was a team that raised my eyebrows in shock. I didn't expect the first half performance the Cougars laid out. The Blackhawks passing attack had four touchdown passes in a 35-0 halftime deficit. Stoney Creek managed to outscore the Blackhawks 16-0 in the second half. The Cougars now have to go to Orion next, it is a place where they won at last season 21-14.

The biggest shock of all of this was Southfield Arts and Tech getting blown out by Detroit Martin Luther King 39-0. The Warriors had a lot of hype surrounding them only to see them struggle off the bat with a very good Crusaders team whom was coming off a rough offseason with the passing of Dale Harvel.

BIG WIN: Oxford: The Bulldogs had a lot of trouble stopping Ethan Williams. Williams scored three times from 69, 67, and 50 yards out in the big 27-26 upset over Romeo in which the crowd stormed the field. Got to give a ton of credit to the Wildcats offensive line, they were huge in the upset win. Oxford came back from being down 26-14 with ten minutes’ left in the game. The Bulldogs join the list of defending State Champions that have fallen at Oxford (Orion-2011.) The Wildcats got a measure of revenge after losing 47-0 last season. The Wildcats will host West Bloomfield next.

TOUGH LOSS: Troy: The Colts were hammered with transfers leaving and a lack of depth. They don’t even have a freshman football team. Troy lost a tough one to Walled Lake Central 13-10. The Colts needed a good start off the get go but couldn’t get it done in Walled Lake. They have a tough game coming up with Avondale, whom also had a tough loss to New Boston Huron 22-18 on Thursday night.

TOUGH LOSS 2: Pontiac: The Phoenix had a tough loss to Detroit Old Redford on Friday night. Pontiac however must clean some things up though and coach John Thompson knows that. They allowed Leequez Oliver to go for 200 yards and 49 yard touchdown run. The Phoenix also gave up one passing touchdown from 49 yards. Pontiac is competitive but they have a tough matchup looming next week with Detroit Country Day.

TEAM THAT NEEDS A HUG: Avondale: The Yellow Jackets were just caught up in the storm of the New Boston Huron Chiefs. The Chiefs lost their long time coach Dan Kalbfleisch whom took over at Gibraltar Carlson. Avondale dominated the second half of that game, getting turnovers and controlling tempo with their triple option offense. They blocked a field goal for a touchdown which gave them an 18-15 lead late into the game. New Boston Huron would respond late by scoring on a four yard quarterback keeper to give them only to give them a  22-18 victory.

WHAT HAPPENED???: Orion: The Dragons had a ton of expectations and now after a very bad 27-7 loss to Chippewa Valley on Thursday. Orion allowed a sophomore quarterback in Tommy Schuster to throw for two touchdowns and score on a quarterback keeper. Now granted I thought the officiating was very questionable but there is no excuse for playing bad fundamental football. You can’t have turnovers or a lack of execution and expect to win. Next week the Dragons need this one against a good Stoney Creek team who brings in their own sophomore quarterback in Frank Potenza and a coach Bob Lantzy defense to say the least.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: Southfield Arts and Tech: The Warriors first game as a school was a complete disaster as they were crushed 39-0 by Detroit Martin Luther King. The Crusaders whom won their 15^th straight game dedicated their season to the late Dale Harvel whom passed away last month and they played well, got to give them credit there. Southfield Arts and Tech let Ambry Thomas, Kevin Willis, and Dequan Finn control the game and they did just that. Sam Johnson struggled big time along with the rest of the Warriors as they made mistakes and took bad penalties. Southfield Arts and Tech needs to clean a lot of things up because they have Clarkston next week.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME: Hazel Park: All the talk, all the hype surrounding the Vikings looked for real. There was talk that this could be team that turned the program around after a 1-26 stretch since 2013 but I was wrong. Hazel Park gave up 65 points to their arch rivals from Nine Mile Road. Now I know the Spartans are a very good football team and the Vikings should be better than people think but to allow 157 points and only score 18 points against Warren Fitzgerald then maybe it's possible you shouldn't play them again. Thankfully for Hazel Park they get Royal Oak Shrine next week.

IN STATE NEWS:

L’Anse Creuse North sent a message to Waterford Mott, beating the Corsairs 17-7. This was the first of a two game suspension that Waterford Mott coach Chris Fahr had to serve. Crusaders coach Anthony Kiner had some interesting comments to say to MIPrepzone’s Drew Ellis after beating the Corsairs. “It’s a win for Michigan Football, this is a huge game for what happened in the offseason, everyone knows about it. We came in here with a chip on our shoulder about all the things they were doing. We could only control what we do, we came in with a chip on our shoulder, and we knew we were coming into hostile waters. Everyone in the State knew the importance of this game and we are really glad Mott is 0-1.” The Corsairs have a tough schedule during the season. they still have Walled Lake Western, Walled Lake Northern, and Novi on the schedule.

Macomb Dakota beat Orchard Lake St. Marys 35-28. The Cougars were without their top running back Kaiser Carleton after he got hurt in the third quarter but Macomb Dakota has depth in Evan Sivec. Sivek had a punt return for a touchdown and another rushing score. The Cougars really played well but they have Utica Eisenhower next.

Brighton beat Detroit East English Village Prep 14-8 in a low scoring game, odd that both teams are the Bulldogs. Detroit East English Village Prep was hyped this season as the third best team in the Detroit Public School League. Brighton shut down Detroit East English Village Prep and is expected to be a serious dark horse candidate in the KLAA West this season.

Rockford forfeited their game with Saline because Rams players had a sickness that had been crumbling the team and the Kent County Health Department placed restrictions on which players could play. The sickness is still unknown.

Talk about a blood bath, then look at the Hartford/Watervliet game. The score was 86-0 Watervliet. Hartford football sent out a tweet about the game.  “Final Score is Watervliet 86, Hartford 0. I don’t know how to explain this.” Oh my god, I feel really bad for the Hartford players, their confidence must be down right now, allowing 86 points, yikes.