Davison should consider changing its school colors from maroon and gold to black and blue after the intense beatdown its varsity football team received at the hands of the Wildcats Friday night.

In its first playoff game, Oxford showed no mercy as it thrashed the Cardinals 38-13, improving its record to 8-2.

“Our kids stepped up – offensively, defensively, kicking game, everything. It was a good team win,” said Head Coach Bud Rowley. “Things are going our way.”

For the fifth consecutive game, the Cats had more than 300 yards in total offense. They racked up 389 yards in 60 plays to Davison’s 223 yards in 47 plays.

As usual, the ground attack was the key to victory as the Cats rushed for 311 yards.

Austin Schlicht, who scored four touchdowns that night, led Oxford in rushing with 91 yards on six carries.

He was followed by Caleb Tabert who rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries, quarterback Drew Carpenter with 59 yards on 15 carries and Trent Myre with 54 yards on 10 carries.

On the defensive side, Joseph Vackaro led the Cats with five solo tackles and two assists.

He was followed by Thomas Wandrie, who had three solo tackles and five assists, and Evan Brunning with his two solo tackles and three assists.

Davison was the first to score with a touchdown pass 10 seconds into the second quarter. That was followed by a missed extra point attempt.

That would be the last time the Cardinals would put any points on the board until late in the fourth quarter.

In between, Oxford did what it’s done best this season – dominate.

At 8:34 in the second quarter, Schlicht scored Oxford’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run.

Just over a minute later, Schlicht recovered a blocked Davison punt and scored his second touchdown.

Near the end of the second quarter, Oxford’s Samuel McMaken kicked a 27-yard field goal, giving the Cats a 17-6 lead heading into halftime.

Oxford scored two touchdowns in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Carpenter and 2-yard run by Schlicht, increasing the Wildcats’ lead to 31-6.

Schlicht scored his fourth and final touchdown of the game on a 76-yard run in the fourth quarter.

With 2:56 left to play, Davison finally scored its second touchdown on a 23-yard pass, but it was too little, too late.

“We took over the second half, which was good to see,” Rowley said.

Oxford will continue its playoff journey this Friday when the Cats travel to Lapeer to take on the undefeated Lightning for the district championship. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

“We’re not going to change anything or do anything different,” Rowley said. “We’re going to do what we’ve been doing – pound the rock, play solid defense and shore up our kicking game.”

Lapeer is 10-0 after beating Grand Blanc 35-0 in its first playoff game Oct. 26.

“They’ve done something right to win 10 games. They’re tough. They’ve got a big running back,” Rowley said. “We’ve got to play our best. We’ve got to go up there with a chip on our shoulder and win.”