Orchard Lake St. Mary's Finds a Way vs. Cass Tech

Orchard Lake St. Mary's continued what some might call one of the toughest high school football schedules in Michigan with a dramatic win at home on Friday night.

The defending Division 1 champions Detroit Cass Tech were beaten, 13-6, in a driving rainstorm and a sellout crowd. The last time the two teams had been on the same field on the same day, St. Mary's won its own Division 3 state championship game at Detroit's Ford Field Nov. 26.

Eaglets senior quarterback Matt Linehan scored the game's first touchdown with under two minutes to go in the first half. Senior running back Grant Niemiec added another in the third quarter to push the score to 13-0 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Eaglets' head coach George Porritt was more than pleased, overheard in the team huddle afterwards: "I asked you to be tough, and you did it. I've got one tough football team and I couldn't be prouder of all of you."

St. Mary's kicks off next on the road against Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.