The Job is Not Finished.

Written Sunday November 17th at 11:00 AM

Could this be the chance for Coach Ron Bellamy and the Lakers to get their first State title???

They went to the Division One State Finals in 2017 only to fall to Clarkston 3-2 at Ford Field.

They have an opportunity to finish the job next weekend against the defending Division One State Champions Davison.

On Saturday afternoon, West Bloomfield got by their kryptonite in Belleville 35-34 in double overtime in Wayne County.

The Lakers had lost to the Tigers in the regional finals by a combined eight points in the last two years.

I thought Bellamy was a genus late in the fourth quarter. He used all three of his timeouts to ice the kicker for what would be the game winning 38 yard field goal for the Tigers which would have given Bellamy and his team their third straight loss to Belleville.

But it was blocked and we played on to overtime.

I thought West Bloomfield would have an advantage heading into overtime. They played Clarkston in overtime even though they lost 24-21 this season and in 2019 when they played Lake Orion in that wild 59-52 four overtime classic. Belleville hasn’t played in an overtime all season long.

I question Tigers Coach Jermaine Crowell on a few plays. The first was why he went for two in double overtime. I talked to my co-host Ian Locke about that decision. He didn’t agree with the decision at all. Second why did he go for the field goal late in the game when the Lakers already blocked an extra point earlier in the game???

All of that seems mute right now.

Some credit goes to Donovan Edwards. Edwards has been a machine playing everywhere whether its running back, quarterback, or even in the slot at wide receiver. He has been a touchdown machine and is usually the player to stop on everyone’s scouting report.

But the Lakers have other guys whom can hurt you as well.

I was very impressed with Semaj Morgan. I knew of his upside long before the season began. He caught some key passes and threw a 42 yard touchdown off a trick play to quarterback Alex Short to give the Lakers the lead.

I said on the podcast that Short was going to be the X Factor in that game. Even though he threw a very bad ball in the first quarter that got picked off he redeemed himself. He threw the winning touchdown and caught Morgan’s pass for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Maxwell Hairston is another very talented way player but is well known in the secondary. Hairston caught a key touchdown in double overtime.

Then there’s Dillion Tatum. Tatum took some snaps, played running back, and is in the secondary on defense. He was just outstanding. Tatum got hurt in last season’s loss to Belleville which changed that game. Tatum will likely play the Edwards role next season.

Jake Ward has been outstanding at kicker. He calm as crisp in the Belleville game making every extra point.

The offensive line was phenomenal keeping Short clean most of the game. They gave him time to operate the offense and Short did the rest.

The Lakers defense despite allowing 34 points has been tremendous all season long where they shutout four consecutive opponents. They made three big plays in the Belleville game. They blocked the extra point attempt in the third quarter that gave Belleville a 13-7 lead and then late in the game they blocked the winning field goal attempt. Then in overtime they got to Tigers quarterback Christian Dhue-Reid and made him throw an incompletion to seal the game.

Then there is Bellamy. Bellamy whom played college football in Ann Arbor and would spend some time in the NFL before coming back to coach at West Bloomfield. He struggled early but things changed in 2013 and West Bloomfield really took off becoming a State power. They have made the postseason seven years straight and has had a ton of success. Program strength has also been very important. He has built the middle school and sub-varsity program. The junior varsity team went undefeated and their freshman squad was solid as well this season.

West Bloomfield is a well-oiled machine.

This is going to be a scary program for years to come.