Closer Look at Orchard Lake St Mary’s 2024 Season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key wins</strong>: 50-19 over <strong>Portage Northern</strong> in the regular season | 27-3 over <strong>Gibraltar Carlson</strong> in the Regional Final | 28-27 over <strong>Birmingham Groves </strong>in the State Semi-Finals</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Finished The Season With 7 Straight Wins</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='437937' first='Antonio' last='Johnson']</strong> was a key contributor for this team. Johnson plays very aggressively and looks to knock down defenders on run plays. Johnson is really a tone setter for an offense and can really help give an offense a toughness identity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Score in Their State Final Win: </strong>35-19 over <strong>Byron Center</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='489281' first='Brandon' last='Adams Jr']</strong> showed a lot of ability this season at outside linebacker and at wide receiver. He showed the ability to drop back into coverage and come down with interceptions, and also the ability to rush the quarterback. Adams gets off the line of scrimmage well at the receiver position. When a time wins a state title it is often because a young player really emerges and has a big impact for their respective team. Adams was certainly that young guy that emerged and had a good season for his football team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='899556' first='Bryson' last='Williams']</strong> has been such a big time impact player for this <strong>Orchard Lake</strong> football team. Williams is a guy that can make an impact at running back, receiver, or lined up taking snaps at quarterback. Williams is a very good punt returner who took multiple back for touchdowns. Williams has good speed and can beat defenders deep down field on go-routes. At receiver, Williams can adjust to the ball well and come down with contested catches. Williams stepped up big in the state finals win over <strong>Birmingham Groves</strong>. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='489263' first='Jabin' last='Gonzales']</strong> played high level football for <strong>Orchard Lake</strong> this year and made plays with his arms and his legs. When a team wins a state title, most of the time, they have strong quarterback play. Gonzales certainly gave this team good quarterback play. I liked watching Gonzales throw the ball up to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='899556' first='Bryson' last='Williams'] </strong>and then allowing him to come down with a contested catch. Gonzales was such an effective runner that his team would give him designated run plays. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Angelo Chapman </strong>is a very good receiver who has the speed to beat defenders deep. Chapman has very good acceleration and can make defenders miss after the catch. He has no problem coming down with catches in traffic as well. He is an excellent blocker at receiver and it really allowed the running backs on his team to have big running lanes in the open field. Chapman does a good job on special teams of running down and covering punts and kickoffs. He recovered a fumble for his football team on a punt play. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I was really excited about this <strong>Orchard Lake</strong> lake football team heading into this season and knew they had a chance to do something special. I like how a lot of things really came together for them, like their key impact players making an impact in big games, young guys stepping up like I discussed, and this team winning the tough games they needed to.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->