Michigan high school football: West Bloomfield provides rough OAA welcome for Harper Woods

Hey, Harper Woods – Welcome to the Oakland Activities Association!

It didn’t take long for the Pioneers to show they could match up in one of the state’s most productive conferences, as they held a 7-0 lead over West Bloomfield after running just three plays. Quarterback Stephone Buford faked a handoff and took the ball 59 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown.

The trouble was, Harper Woods’ lead lasted just two plays after that. And West Bloomfield, one of the conference's powerhouses, rolled to a 33-14 home win on Friday.

“We feel that we’ve joined the No. 1 league in the state, so we’re going to have to raise our level of play, so it’s going to be fun along the way,” Harper Woods coach Rod Oden said. “With our enrollment, we’re the only school in the state that has moved up four classes in four years. It’s time to play some big boy football.”

After the Pioneers (1-1) took the lead, West Bloomfield showed it could be just as explosive, covering 62 yards on two long runs (aided by a facemask penalty). Ralph Rogers scored on a 7-yard sweep to tie the game at 7, just 2:22 after the opening kickoff.

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And even though Harper Woods began after a 50-yard kickoff return by Ramonty Houze and a sideline interference penalty on the Lakers, the Pioneers stalled out at the 16. and it seemed to signal the defending OAA Red champions that it was time to flex their muscles.

“Last year we faced a lot of adversity, and we thought, a little point on the board, that’s not going to hurt, I knew we were going to bounce back,” said West Bloomfield running back Kenneth Jones, who scored later in the game. “That’s what we did — we bounced back and took control of the game.”

After both teams exchanged punts, West Bloomfield (2-0) mounted an eight-play, 60-yard drive capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Reqez Nance, to take a 14-7 lead one minute into the second quarter.

“To be honest, I love tight games,” Nance said. “They scored first, but that created some energy. I liked that we came right back at them. I thought Harper Woods was going to bring more pressure at me. Some of the games last year, I couldn’t deal with the pressure. But this year, I can deal with the pressure. I thought they would have been better, but welcome to the OAA Red.”West Bloomfield got another score one minute before halftime, when Nance spotted Semaj Morgan crossing in the end zone from 21 yards out, to make it 21-7 at the break.

After halftime, West Bloomfield tacked on scores on its first two drives to extend the lead to 33-7. The first was a 7-yard pass play where Nance scrambled before hitting Deonte Pippen Jr. deep in the end zone, and Pippen got his feet down inside the back line. A failed fake punt by Harper Woods gave the ball back quickly to West Bloomfield, and four plays later, Jones took the ball off left tackle for an 8-yard TD.

A trio of second-half plays kept things from turning into a total blowout. First, Houze returned a kickoff 85 yards to make the score 33-14 late in the third quarter. Brandon Houston ended West Bloomfield’s next drive with an interception in the end zone for a touchback. And after Bryce Rowe’s interception gave the Lakers the ball in the red zone again, they failed to convert a fake field goal attempt for more points.

Harper Woods won last week via forfeit by Harper Woods Chandler Park. After searching for a football home for several seasons as an independent, the Pioneers joined the OAA White Division, where they will face Birmingham Groves, Bloomfield Hills, Oak Park, Rochester and Southfield A&T in divisional play.

“One of the most difficult things is playing a team this good this early,” Oden said. “We didn’t get that tune-up game last week. And I think those first-game jitters caused setbacks that hurt us tonight. They couldn’t scout us, but we couldn’t teach off the tape and make corrections, and that’s huge in a league like this. I’m hoping the rest of the way we can build some consistency.”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MHSAA football: West Bloomfield topples new OAA foe Harper Woods