How many signature wins can one program have? Birmingham Groves got its latest Friday night, knocking off No. 1-ranked West Bloomfield, 24-17, on the road. Groves all but had the game bottled up, then surrendered 10 points in the final 1:30 allowing the Lakers to tie, but caught a late break for the winning score. Here are three takeaways:
The big play
With the score tied at 17 and 1:03 to play, Groves faced fourth-and-7 from their own 15. While the Falcons had mostly punted out of bounds all night to avoid kick returner Donovan Edwards, Orion Kendra instead booted an end-over-end straight downfield which took a bad hop and was muffed by the Lakers, and Johnny Rex pounced on the loose ball at the 21, giving Groves a new life late.
“When I was running, I saw the ball go underneath his legs. I saw that he was about to recover it, but I was able to jump on it before he did, so I was happy I was able to get to the ball,” Rex said.
Groves (2-0) seemed content to get the ball in position for a game-winning field goal, but quarterback Markis Alexander found Eli Turner in the clear along the left sideline, for a 25-yard scoring connection with 36 seconds remaining.
