By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
In the final contest of the abbreviated six-game regular season, Oxford fell to the Southfield A&T Warriors, 21-0, on October 23 at Wildcat Stadium to finish their regular season at 2-4 (1-3 Oakland Activities Association Red Division).
Doubling as Homecoming and the annual Senior Night, each of the program’s twelfth-graders, joined by their parents, were recognized individually pregame.
An acknowledgment of all the time they have devoted to help their sons reach this point, the parents accompanied their student-athlete on the sideline for the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner.
Southfield A&T first appeared on the scoreboard with 4:46 remaining in the first half when freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall scored on a one-yard keeper.
Considered one of the top signal-callers in the state in the 2024 class, Marshall holds a reported scholarship offer from Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines.
Only a one-possession game at the halftime break, the Warriors wasted no time extending their lead in the second half, as junior cornerback/wide receiver Dayvon Young ran the opening kick back 83 yards for a score.
Marshall added another touchdown run, this one from two yards out, with 5:30 remaining for the game’s final points.
Senior Brendan Moore started his second-straight game at quarterback for Oxford, but, after misfiring on all four of his pass attempts and throwing three interceptions, was replaced by junior Brady Carpenter at halftime.
Carpenter, who started the Wildcats’ first four games at the position, completed seven-of-14 passes for 83 yards and added nine yards rushing on three carries.
Junior Sal Vackaro led Oxford with 50 yards on the ground on nine attempts, while sophomore Tate Myre ran the football 18 times for 40 yards.
The team’s leading rusher, Myre wrapped up the regular season with 385 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 94 carries, good for an average of 4.1 yards per tote.
Adding to a memorable night for the young man, senior tight end Trent Brown was the Wildcats’ top pass-catcher, hauling in three passes for 56 yards.
At halftime, Brown was selected as the school’s Homecoming King, with Jordan Hung, a member of Rachel Bryer’s basketball program, serving as the Queen.
Defensively, junior safety John Asciutto tallied a team-high five tackles and recorded his first, and the team’s third, interception of the season.
Based on student enrollment size, Oxford was placed in Region 2, District 4 of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) playoffs, opening up against the division champion Clarkston Wolves (6-0, 5-0 OAA Red) on the road on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m.
Head coach Zach Line’s Wildcats previously played at Clarkston High School this season, falling, 35-14, in the second game of the campaign on September 25.
Attendance for this clash will be limited to 1,000 people, 500 from each school.
Interested parties must purchase tickets ahead of time at gofan.co, where they will be $6 each. Tickets will not be sold at the gate; the MHSAA made the decision to use this model to ensure “a cashless, contactless purchasing process.”
For those not looking to attend in-person, the MHSAA’s television platform, nfhsnetwork.com, will air a live stream of the game.
The other matchups in Oxford’s district are the Lake Orion Dragons (3-2, 1-2 OAA Red) at Grand Blanc Bobcats (5-1, 4-1 Saginaw Valley League (SVL) Blue), Rochester Adams Highlanders (2-4, 2-3 OAA White) at Rochester Falcons (6-0, 6-0 OAA Blue), and Lapeer Lightning (3-3, 3-2 SVL Blue) at Davison Cardinals (6-0, 4-0 SVL Blue).
As a reminder, every team in the state qualifies for the MHSAA postseason in 2020, due to the shortened regular season.