The River Rouge Panthers met the Orchard Lake St. Mary Eaglets for Rouge’s homecoming. The Panthers sat at 1-4 and the Eaglets at 2-3, with both teams fighting to get the wins necessary for the Playoffs. The Panthers edged out the Eaglets 35-7 for the homecoming victory.
River Rouge Panthers
Primed for a Late Season Push?
After starting the season 1-4, the Panthers could be primed for a late-season push. Early season injuries put a damper on the Panther’s season following a hotly contested matchup with Belleville; the Panthers lost starting Quarterback McKale McDowell and Running Back Jamori Biggs until the game on September 29. They both came back along with some other key pieces along both sides of the ball. None of the returning players were as big as Biggs, as he rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
Explosive Plays
With players back for the Panthers, they looked more explosive in all phases of the game. On offense, they had multiple plays that broke for 30+ yards or more, including two rushing plays from Jamori Biggs that went for 70+ yards. On defense, the Panthers came up with big stops near the goal line, including recovering a fumble near the goal line. As for special teams, they returned a punt for a touchdown. The speed of the starters of the Panthers will once again cause problems for opposing teams.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Eaglets
Played too Fast
For the Eaglets of Orchard Lake, they came out and tried to match the speed and tempo of River Rouge, and that didn’t work. Outside of the kick return for a touchdown in the first quarter of the game, the Eaglets couldn’t get anything going with the high-tempo offense that they tried to run in the first half. Come the second half, when the Eaglets started to slow down the pace, they were able to start moving the ball with more consistency. Much of the ball movement came from the Running Backs for the Eaglets, as Camari Patterson and Darrin Jones led the way in the backfield.