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Health & Fitness

Sports blog: Ravens Fall to Avondale, 53-22

Royal Oak High School falls short in its football home opener.

ROYAL OAK – Spencer Smith threw for 188 yards and scored three total touchdowns as Auburn Hills Avondale defeated Royal Oak, 53-22, in an Oakland Activities Association high school football game Friday night.

Smith, a senior quarterback, completed his first six passes for Avondale (3-0, 3-0 OAA Blue) and ended the game 9-for-11 passing for 188 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 51 rushing yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Avondale coach Steven Deutsch said he has been impressed with the way Smith has stepped in as the starter after the Yellow Jackets lost star quarterback Mitch Robinson to graduation.

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“He’s been waiting his turn, waiting his turn and he’s taken full advantage of it,” Deutsch said. “He throws a nice football, he runs the offense well, he does the little things and he’s not going to make a lot of mistakes.”

Deutsch said Smith and receiver Erik Stubbs put in a lot of work over the summer to get on the same page and help the Avondale offense click. On Friday those two connected four times for 94 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

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In addition to the passing attack, the Yellow Jackets proved they could be a force in the run game too. Star running back Michael Johnson was limited to just eight carries for 59 yards and a touchdown before exiting with what appeared to be a minor ankle injury, but a pair of sophomores picked up where he left off.

Joshuwa Holloman carried ten times for 175 yards and two touchdowns while fellow sophomore Chase Lalla was untouched on a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and later caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Ozerities.

Deutsch said Avondale is fortunate to have a group of players that are more focused on the team’s success than individual stats.

“They’re unselfish kids and so it’s really been a great thing that they’ve bought into what we’re doing,” Deutsch said. “They really have a great camaraderie with each other, and they don’t care who scores, who makes the big play - they’re happy when somebody on the team does something.”

Royal Oak (0-3, 0-2 OAA Blue) played Avondale close for most of the first half. The Ravens took an 8-6 lead with 1:21 left in the first quarter on a 6-yard run by senior Justin Unger and a successful two-point conversion. However, Avondale scored on its next offensive play and the Ravens were unable to score again until the fourth quarter.

Still, the Ravens scored 22 points on an Avondale team that had only allowed 12 points combined in its first two games. Royal Oak was also able to get its ground game going, as the Ravens rushed for 288 yards as a team.

Unger finished the game with 90 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries while senior Blake Hairston led the team with 98 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown run on an end around play in the fourth quarter. Junior Evan Fall added 42 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens.

Royal Oak coach Ryan Irish said he likes the progress he’s seen from the team’s run game, though it still has a few things to work on.

“We ran the ball better, which is exciting to note because you need to do that in high school football,” Irish said. “It wasn’t enough and again too our offense has to continue to move the ball to not give up plays on this side of the field to give them opportunities to score.”

Irish said the team stuck to its game plan defensively and played well at the start of the game, but was unable to keep it going as the game went on. He said the team will need to work on staying sound and finishing games.

“Early on we were executing, doing what we had to do, but we have to play it for four (quarters,)” Irish said. “We played (great defense) for a series, we played it for a quarter; can we do it for a half – how long can we do it? That’s what I need to really find out about our football team.”

Avondale will look to stay unbeaten when it hosts Inkster in a non-league game next Friday, while Royal Oak will try to pick up its first win at Bloomfield Hills Lahser the same night.

For more Oakland County football coverage, be sure to visit oaareport.wordpress.com

OTHER LOCAL SCORES

Clawson 42, New Haven 7

Hazel Park 26, Ferndale 20 (OT)

Berkley 62, Bloomfield Hills Andover 13
Birmingham Detroit Country Day 35, Birmingham Seaholm 21
Bloomfield Hills Lahser 35, Birmingham Groves 6
Clarkston 24, Rochester 0

Lake Orion 42, West Bloomfield 7

Troy 19, Stoney Creek 14

Pontiac 21, Troy Athens 17

Farmington 39, Southfield-Lathrup 12
Oak Park 34, Rochester Adams 22

Oxford 34, Farmington Hills Harrison 31 (OT)
Southfield 44, North Farmington 0

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