Lakers cruise, 49-6, after 'devastating loss'

Needing to bounce back after a lackluster performance the previous week, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes is now one victory away from punching its ticket back to the state playoffs.

The Lakers trounced Bloomfield Hills-Cranbrook Kingswood in their homecoming game, 49-6, on Saturday, Sept. 29.

It was a much-needed win for the Lakers (5-1 overall, 3-1 in the Detroit Catholic League Intersectional) after falling to Allen Park Cabrini, 14-10, the previous week for their first loss of the season.

“To just win this game was very important because the Cabrini game was a devastating loss,” said Our Lady Head Coach Mike Boyd. “Our kids played well and we got some breaks. We played defense really well, but we also got some blocking and some good running from our backs.”

Sal Mastromatteo threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Richie Cross and Jake Doetsch scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to give Our Lady a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After Joseph Myrick scored on an 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for Cranbrook (1-5, 0-4 in the Intersectional), Our Lady would go on to score 35 unanswered points for the rest of the game.

Doetsch would score his second touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard run, while Mastromatteo would throw his second touchdown on a 24-yard pass to Zack Zednik in the second quarter.

Lucas Neme, Sean Thomas and Christian Heiss also each had a touchdown run on the day.

Doetsch finished with 52 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Cross had 47 yards rushing on 6 carries and Zednik had 32 yards rushing on 4 carries.

The Lakers were without Mitch Lasceski, who broke his collarbone in practice on Monday, Sept. 24 and is out for the rest of the regular season.

Nevertheless, Our Lady will soldier on and is one victory away from returning to the state playoffs after a year’s absence.

However, the Lakers will next face their toughest test of the season when they face undefeated Detroit Loyola (6-0, 5-0 in the Intersectional) on Saturday, Oct. 6 at University of Detroit Jesuit Field.

Loyola has won two straight against Our Lady, including last season’s 37-0 shutout.

“I told the kids we’ll prepare for Loyola like we would any other game,” Boyd said.