Welcome to the 2017 OAA Football Season, this season we will pick games that include OAA Teams. This year we have Anthony Taormina from History Now and Between Taorminas on Orion Neighborhood Television, Scott Burnstein from MIPrepZone and State Champs, Dan Stickradt from North Oakland Sports, Keith Dunlap a free-lance writer at the Detroit Free Press, and Sean Cotter Ford worker and Farmington loyalist.
SAMMY 80-47
ANT 95-32
SEAN 100-27
STICK 104-23
KEITH 104-23
BURNEY 97-30
Games are Friday at 7 PM unless noted.
Division One
Clarkston at Davison (Saturday at 7 PM)
The Wolves are driving with confidence after what happened
to them in the last two weeks. Clarkston bounced back with a strong ground game
performance thanks to Josh Cantu and Michael Fleugel in the Wolves 37-7 win
over Grand Blanc. Clarkston will go back to Davison for their second-round
matchup in Genesee County and hold a 2-0 overall record heading into Saturday night's contest. The Cardinals come in at 10-1 with their only loss being at Midland, which they lost the Saginaw Valley League title in that game. Davison had to survive Lapeer with a 14-12
victory to get to this game but the Cardinals and coach Kyle Zimmerman's team will have three advantages heading into this game.
This will be Clarkston’s first game on grass this season, they remember the feeling
what happened last season when the they lost 31-14 in the district final to the Wolves in Davison, and
the game is going to be played on a Saturday night but it's unknown how this will impact both teams. The Cardinals have some injury
concerns as their star running back Tariq Reid is not 100 percent with an ankle injury. Davison though is better than they were last season behind their quarterback Cannon Hall. Clarkston has some concerns especially
in the secondary and could be exposed if the matchup is right. The matchups just don’t favor Davison again like last season. The Wolves and Cardinals have played two similar opponents in Lapeer and Southfield Arts and Tech in which both teams won their games (Davison 56-54 over the Warriors at Wayne State, and 35-17 at Davison along with last week the Lightning, Clarkston 42-7 over the Lightning in Ann Arbor and 17-7 at home over the Warriors) I’m taking the Nike/Under Armor team over the Adidas team.
SAMMY PICK: CLARKSTON 24, DAVISON 20.
ANT PICK: CLARKSTON 38, DAVISON 14.
SEAN PICK: CLARKSTON 31, DAVISON 21.
STICK PICK: CLARKSTON 35, DAVISON 34.
KEITH PICK: CLARKSTON 31, DAVISON 14.
BURNEY PICK: CLARKSTON 28, DAVISON 27.
Adams at Utica Eisenhower
This will be the first meeting between both of these teams
that are separated by only five miles since 2001. The Highlanders picked up a
big win over Romeo 26-17 at home last week and have won nine games for the first time since 2007. Adams will go on the road to
Sweinhart Field to take on Utica Eisenhower, a team that went to the State
Semifinals last season, losing a 32-28 heartbreaker to Detroit Cass Tech. The Eagles
in their pre-district destroyed Utica 52-0 at Sweinhart Field but their quarterback Max Whitwer
got hurt in the game with a knee injury and was replaced by Jack Morris. Morris played well in backup of Whitwer last week. It is
unknown how Whitwer’s knee injury will impact him even though he has battled through
it this season. He is expected to play this week against a stout Highlanders
defense that is playing with a ton of confidence. Utica Eisenhower has not seen
a team that runs a veer offense this season which could be a concern for coach Chris Smith and his team. The Eagles are 10-1 all-time against Adams with Utica Eisenhower winning 27-17 in 2001 but that was before coach Tony Patritto arrived on the scene. The Highlanders and Eagles share one common opponent in Romeo, Utica Eisenhower beat the Bulldogs 34-0 at Romeo while Adams won last week. This will be a fun game to watch but the Highlanders have nothing to lose while the Eagles have a ton to lose in this matchup.
SAMMY PICK: ADAMS 21, UTICA EISENHOWER 20.
ANT PICK: UTICA EISENHOWER 27, ADAMS 24.
SEAN PICK: UTICA EISENHOWER 31, ADAMS 14.
STICK PICK: UTICA EISENHOWER 24, ADAMS 21.
KEITH PICK: UTICA EISENHOWER 24, ADAMS 20.
BURNEY PICK: ADAMS 24, UTICA EISENHOWER 23.
West Bloomfield at Waterford Mott
In what is expected to be a shootout in Waterford between two teams that won eight straight games both the
Lakers and Corsairs feature two very good offenses with strong passing attacks led
by their gun slinging quarterbacks. West Bloomfield has Bryce Veasley and
Waterford Mott with David McCullum. The Lakers whom are averaging 38.8 points per game got some revenge last week over
Bloomfield Hills 31-6 behind a solid running game. The Corsairs whom are averaging 39.8 points per game had no
problem with Troy beating them 33-0 behind a balanced all-around effort from coach Chris Fahr's team. West
Bloomfield is 4-1 all-time vs Waterford Mott, with their last meeting being in
1995 when the Corsairs beat the Lakers 21-7 but that was long before coaches Fahr and Ron Bellamy arrived at their respective schools. This is a Nike vs Adidas battle as well,
both teams wear different apparels. Waterford Mott and West Bloomfield have played one common opponent this season in Walled Lake Western. The Lakers lost 19-14 to the Warriors at Wayne State while the Corsairs beat the Warriors 47-37 in Walled Lake. I think the team that wears Nike
will pull through in this one.
SAMMY PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 63, WATERFORD MOTT 42.
ANT PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 49, WATERFORD MOTT 24.
SEAN PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 49, WATERFORD MOTT 42.
STICK PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 38, WATERFORD MOTT 35.
KEITH PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 38, WATERFORD MOTT 30.
BURNEY PICK: WEST BLOOMFIELD 34, WATERFORD MOTT 33.
Division Two
Birmingham Brother Rice at Oak Park
This will be the first meeting between these two teams since
the 2003 pre-district when Oak Park lost 20-13 to Birmingham Brother Rice. The
Knights have had to deal with questions like are they for real or not and can they have a deep playoff run, which has bothered coach and Athletic Director Greg Carter. Oak Park had no problem with Royal Oak destroying the Ravens 34-13 last week in
Knight Valley. The Warriors haven't had a deep run since then coach Al Fracassa's final season in 2013 are coming off an emotional win over arch rival
Groves 24-21 in triple overtime in Beverly Hills last week. Birmingham Brother Rice is red hot winning
five straight games after starting the season at 2-3 under first year coach Adam Korzeniewski. The Warriors are 2-0 all time coming in against the
Knights. Korzeniewski should know Oak Park well from his days as the defensive coordinator at Seaholm. The Knights will need to play mistake free if they want to get to the
regional for the second time in School history (2012). Oak Park and Birmingham Brother Rice have played Groves as their common opponent with the Knights winning 34-14 and the Warriors winning last week, both games in Beverly Hills.
SAMMY PICK: OAK PARK 35, BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 20.
ANT PICK: OAK PARK 34, BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 24.
SEAN PICK: OAK PARK 26, BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 21.
STICK PICK: OAK PARK 35, BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 21.
KEITH PICK: OAK PARK 32, BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 17.
BURNEY PICK: BIRMINGHAM BROTHER RICE 21, OAK PARK 20.
Division Three
Harrison at Warren Woods Tower
The Hawks are proving why they have held their own in the White and even won some games against teams that are one division ahead of them. This season, Harrison shared the White with
Groves and Oak Park, both larger schools. The Hawks were dominant
against Warren Fitzgerald when they put up 45 points in a 45-14 blowout of the
Spartans last week. This week, coach John Herrington takes his team back to Warren to take on the Titans of Warren
Woods Tower. It will be the second meeting all time between the two teams with Harrison
winning 49-9 in a regional final in 2006. The Titans beat Hazel Park 31-0 last
week but looked sluggish in the first half against the Vikings only up 6-0 at that point before pulling
away late. This should be a matchup in which Harrison dominates a team that is not stout offensively but don't tell that to Warren Woods Tower. The Hawks and Titans have played one common opponent in Warren Fitzgerald with the Spartans losing 21-14 to Warren Woods Tower and to Harrison last week.
SAMMY PICK: HARRISON 35, WARREN WOODS TOWER 14.
ANT PICK: HARRISON 35, WARREN WOODS TOWER 17.
SEAN PICK: HARRISON 38, WARREN WOODS TOWER 21.
STICK PICK: HARRISON 28, WARREN WOODS TOWER 20.
KEITH PICK: HARRISON 42, WARREN WOODS TOWER 14.
BURNEY PICK: HARRISON 30, WARREN WOODS TOWER 22.
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