OAA Sideline Report: Football, Week 9: Teams Headed to Postseason

The book is closed on the 2011 Oakland Activities Association high school football regular season.

Division titles came down to the final week in the OAA Blue and OAA Red. earned a share of the Blue title over The Groves Falcons and each had 6-2 records in the Blue.

had a chance to shut out Clarkston from a share of the Red title when the schools faced each other Friday, but the Lake Orion Dragons couldn’t get it done. They allowed the Wolves to come back in the fourth quarter and ended up losing 38-31. The teams shared the Red title with 6-1 records. 

clinched the OAA White title three weeks ago with a win over . The Harrison Hawks didn’t act like a team with a playoff spot and division title locked up when it played on Friday. They won 56-13 to extend their winning streak to 23 games. It was the second consecutive year Harrison finished the regular season a perfect 9-0.

Discussion Points 

Quote of the Week: “In a way, it's payback,” Groves running back Keon Collier said of beating crosstown rival Seaholm 21-3 on Friday. “Two years ago, I had the worst game of my life, when I played quarterback up here against these guys, when they beat us in overtime by three points (20-17 in 2009). This was the payback game, baby.”

Stat of the Week:  “We’ve got a lot of players that can score and we try to spread it around,” Harrison head coach John Herrington said. That’s quite an understatement. Not a single OAA team accomplished what the Hawks did Friday: It had eight different players score touchdowns in its win over Farmington. 

Player of the Week: Michael Johnson (RB; Avondale) had big day against . The running back had 25 carries for more than 125 yards and a touchdown. Senior quarterback Mitch Robinson didn’t have a great day, but Johnson helped keep the Avondale Yellow Jackets' playoff hopes alive with his performance.

Honorable Mentions: Sam Haskell (RB; ), Keon Collier (RB; Groves), Tony Annese (QB; Adams), Chevez Farris (WR; ), Michael Johnson (RB; Avondale) 

Out of Bounds: The atmosphere at the Seaholm and Groves rivalry game was pretty special Friday.  

In honor of Seaholm Coach of a heart attack, the to sell T-shirts for a "red out." 

The shirts were on sale at the game, with the phrase 'Saving a life is a real sport' on the front and team names on the back. Proceeds from the T-shirt sales before and during the game went toward the American Heart Association.

“This is truly a wonderful tribute to the coach,” said Cindie DeWolf, youth marketing director for the American Heart Association.

Playoff Picture 

OAA Blue

Groves, Seaholm, North Farmington, Lahser and Avondale are in. The surprise had to be the Avondale Yellow Jackets getting in with only five wins. On its Selection Show on Sunday, the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) revealed that only 234 teams had six wins this year, the lowest number in the history of the playoffs. This helped five-win teams such as Avondale reach the post-season without the automatic bid.

OAA Red

Troy Athens, Lake Orion, Clarkston and Pontiac had automatic qualifying bids. Clarkston and Pontiac picked them up with wins in the final week of the regular season. 

OAA White

The White tied the Blue with five teams making the playoffs: Harrison, Farmington, Adams, Southfield and Oxford are playing on Friday. Farmington was another team sweating it out Sunday waiting to hear if five wins would be enough. The Farmington Falcons played a really tough schedule and that helped them earn a spot in the postseason. 

Other Results

OAA Blue

Avondale over BERKLEY 24-21

Ferndale over HAZEL PARK 34-12

Groves over SEAHOLM 21-3 – r

LASHER over Andover 28-21 – r

NORTH FARMINGTON over Waterford Kettering 37-0

OAA Red

Athens over TROY 31-13 - r

CLARKSTON over Lake Orion 38-31

PONTIAC over West Bloomfield 66-40

ROCHESTER over Royal Oak 26-7

OAA White

Adams over Stoney Creek 35-0 - r

HARRISON over Farmington 56-13 - r

SOUTHFIELD over Lathrup 39-13

This Week

All games have 7 p.m. start times unless otherwise noted.

Game to Watch: The four teams making playoff appearances for the first time in a long time. Groves and Athens are in the postseason for the first time since 2004 while Seaholm and North Farmington are in the playoffs for the first time since 2005. It will be interesting to see if one of them can make a run.

Seaholm has the odds stacked against it facing the defending champion Harrison on the road. The other three teams play at home and should at least have a chance to get out of the first round.

Friday (Oct. 28)

Adams at Oxford

Avondale at Lapeer East

Brother Rice at North Farmington

Lahser at Redford Thurston

Romeo at Troy Athens

Seaholm at Harrison

Walled Lake Central at Lake Orion

Saturday (Oct. 29)

Farmington at Detroit Henry Ford (1 p.m.)

Southfield at Groves

Previous weeks

Have you missed any of our previous weekly recaps? Here’s a chance to catch up:

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Sideline Report –

Preseason Preview –

Correction: The weekend schedule was incorrect in the original version of this report.