Reverse tips scales in Our Lady's loss to Country Day, 34-3

For a quarter and a half, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes hung tough with Birmingham Detroit Country Day, one of the top teams in the county, until one play changed the momentum of the game.

“It was 0-0 in the second quarter, then with 6 minutes left, they ran a reverse,” said Our Lady Head Coach Mike Boyd. “(The Yellowjackets) were frustrated, but then they got going. If we stuffed that reverse, we would have had a chance.”

After the reverse by John Hill, Reid McManus scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for Country Day to complete an 80-yard drive, which was a sign of things to come as the Yellowjackets defeated the Lakers, 34-3, on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Our Lady.

“After I look at the film, we can play with (Country Day), but we are our own worst enemies,” Boyd said. “On the reverse, our defensive end, linebacker and defensive lineman didn’t do their jobs. After we punted on our next drive, we had a breakdown with guys going to the wrong places. They went up 14-0 and it changed the whole outlook of the game.”

Country Day’s (2-2) first touchdown came after a missed field goal by Our Lady’s Jake Doetsch.

Then Hill, who is the reigning Division 2 state champion in the 100-meter dash, scored his first touchdown on a 63-yard run, giving Country Day a 14-0 lead.

Doetsch was finally able to get Our Lady (2-2) on the board before halftime with a 38-yard field goal.

But, the Yellowjackets would not let up in the second half as they took advantage of their new momentum, with Mohamed Fakih scoring on a 31-yard touchdown run before Hill followed up with a 43-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for 27-3 Country Day lead.

Tyler Weigers then found Leno Corradi for an 86-yard touchdown connection in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Doetsch finished with 87 yards rushing on 7 carries while quarterback Sal Mastromatteo completed 7-of-14 passes for 135 yards and no interceptions.

Garrett Ross finished with 18 tackles for the Lakers.

Hill finished with 114 yards for Country Day, the runner-up in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 4 state finals in 2007 and 2008.

“Early on, (Country Day) was running a lot of plays, but couldn’t put points on the board. Then after their first score, our kids started getting doubt,” Boyd said.

On offense, Our Lady couldn’t convert inside the red zone, according to Boyd.

“Our blocking just went sour. When we were inside the 15 (yard line) or the 5, we’d get a penalty or miss blocks,” he said. “Our quarterback misread coverages and missed wide-open players and tried to force things.”

The Lakers will return to Detroit Catholic League play this week when they hosts Allen Park Cabrini for homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 24.

“I thought we would be either 3-1 or 2-2 at this point of the season. Now I know we can win the rest of the way. If we can stop our mistakes, we’ll be OK,” Boyd said.