Week One Thoughts.

Written Saturday September 19th at 4:45 PM

It was very unfortunate with what happened to Lake Orion when it came to the COVID-19 case and that we did not see the Dragons play Oxford on Friday night but that’s the world right now we are living in in dealing with this virus.

Speaking of Oxford, the Wildcats found an opponent in Macomb L’Anse Creuse North and they played on Friday night. The Crusaders also had an opening after Utica and Birmingham Detroit Country Day had COVID 19 cases surrounding their programs. Oxford looked very impressive in new coach Zach Line debut after balancing the offense in a 34-0 victory. I was impressed with Trent Muir’s two score performance and Brady Carpenter looks more comfortable under center. What helps is that the Wildcats have a boatload of varsity experience and they look more comfortable with a balanced attack that was lacking a year ago. Oxford has a big one looming with Clarkston this week.

Clarkston had to survive on Friday night in Southfield beating the Warriors 24-17. Ethan Clark had two rushing touchdowns while Mike DePillo scored the winning score. I’ve known about Clark since his days in playing youth football for the Clarkston Chiefs. Clark reminds me of Brayden McKienna whom plays running back at Lapeer, both are very similar backs. DePillo, I thought wasn’t as accurate when watching the film but he did just enough and the Wolves defense held strong stopping two potentially winning drives but they still have some issues and questions to address. I was not impressed with Isiah Marshall despite throwing for two touchdowns but when Marshall is under duress he struggles. I thought RaeQuan Lee and Jeff Bowens looked very good for Coach Tim Conley’s crew but the defense could be a struggling point for the Warriors moving forward.

West Bloomfield looked very good after a stunning 39-0 blowout in week one in Knight Valley. I knew there would be some challenges for the Knights going to the Red despite not having Rayshawn Benny in the lineup as he was hurt. Donovan Edwards looked really good for the Lakers along with Alex Short. I liked how West Bloomfield played in that game, they looked crisp and sharp.

People said to me that Stoney Creek was going to be a surprise team and make some noise this season well there is a reason why that I have the Cougars number two in the rankings. Stoney Creek made a statement by blowing out Seaholm 37-13 on Thursday night. I knew about Cameron Buford at running back and Ryan Echout at quarterback but Jon Fogel is a name to keep an eye on. He is basically playing the Zach Dehna roll on the Cougars attack. I and my co-host Ian Locke along with Coach Doug Corless have been saying about Stoney Creek, this team is scary and they are already making an impact. On the Maples side, I was very disappointed in their performance, anytime you make the State Semifinals and have a veteran team back you’re supposed to make the next step but they did not. It will be interesting to see how Seaholm responds going forward.

North Farmington had to survive against Adams 34-33 on Thursday night. I can’t say that Coach Tony Patritto made the right decision to go for the win but they went for it and couldn’t get it which resulted in a victory for Coach Jon Herstein and his team. The Highlanders are better than what I thought prior to the season. I thought they would struggle scoring along with their inexperience but it looks like they haven’t lost a beat. The Raiders have some issues defensively and depth wise going forward despite having Jacob Bousamara at quarterback. I think both of these teams are fine though.

Groves might have found themselves a quarterback in Jack Woods. Woods played very well in the Falcons 42-31 win on Thursday night over Farmington. The Falcons scoring 42 points is a great start but the defense is still a problem for Groves. In the last three games they have allowed over 30 points, that’s a huge problem. Farmington showed some growth and improvement. I like where Coach Kory Cicroch has his team going right now.

Liam Sarris looks to be the real deal for Berkley catching two touchdowns in a 20-6 win over Lincoln Park on Thursday night. Coach Sean Shields went with Ian Domzalski at quarterback which was a head scratcher for me but it worked out well for Shields squad. I didn’t think Lincoln Park was that good though but we’ll see what happens with the Bears moving forward.

I think the best game of the night was at Auburn Hills with Ferndale earned their fourth win in five years over Avondale stunning the Yellow Jackets in overtime 22-14 on Friday night at Dick Bye Stadium. This is a huge win for Coach Eric Royal and the Eagles. It could prove that Ferndale is back. This is a tough loss for Coach Corey Bell and Avondale. It will be very interesting to see how the Yellow Jackets respond going forward.

Rochester looked good shutting out Pontiac 57-0 on Friday night at Wisner Stadium. The Falcons and quarterback Alex Bueno looked comfortable and the rest of Coach Eric Vernon’s team did as well. The Phoenix struggled but I think they are light years better than they were a few years ago.

Bloomfield Hills made a huge statement by going back to the all-black uniforms and then by beating a very good Troy Athens team 21-13 on Thursday night. The Blackhawks defense looks to be better than thought by holding back the Red Hawks twice at the goal line. The Red Hawks are also better than people thought as well. Look for these two teams to make some noise going forward.

Troy got their first win in 23 months needing a Ryan Peluso field goal to beat Royal Oak 20-17 on Friday night. The Colts despite wearing horrendous Adidas road uniforms trailed by eight points found a way to win that game and have managed to impress me a little bit especially with the play of Darius Whiteside.. Troy looks better than they were last season and they might have found a nucleus a little bit. With Royal Oak, I don’t know what to say, they turned the ball over six times, you can’t do that. On the bright side for the Ravens they have found a quarterback in Hudson Siddle but they have a lot of work to do going forward.