MACOMB, Mich. - Jaylen Hall is not a five-star recruit, he has zero scholarship offers, and apparently, Orchard Lake St.Mary's forgot about him in the scouting report. Hall had himself a career night in a 35-38 win for Macomb Dakota, hauling in three balls for 155 yards, and three touchdowns.
What also made this night special for Hall, was that he did this against two Division I cornerbacks for St.Mary's, in Richard Bowens (Iowa State), and Shermond Dabney (Bowling Green). To their credit, Bowens and Dabney are outstanding players, but, tonight was Hall's night.
"Jaylen Hall is special," said Dakota head coach Greg Baur. "Not many people know about Jaylen Hall, and is was going up against Division I corners, and he looked pretty good. We tried to run some plays for him, get him some double-moves, and not many people can run deep with Jaylen Hall, I don't care who you are."
St.Mary's (0-1) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on Dakota, but the Cougars would tie things up, when senior quarterback Brett Droski avoided a near sack, scrambled, and found Hall wide open in the back of the end zone from 29 yards out. St.Mary's immediately responded on its next possession with an 80-yard run from junior running back Kyren Cunningham, who, even at 6-1, 220-pounds, can fly.
The big play was in effect for both team in this game, as Dakota (1-0) answered St.Mary's again when Droski and Hall linked up again on a long 52-yard bomb, which saw Hall running right by the St.Mary's secondary for a touchdown to make it 14-14 with 1:45 to go in the second quarter.
"I was just outrunning them today," Hall said of the St.Mary's defensive backs. "I have 4.5 speed, and Coach Baur conditioning us over the summer really helped us. Every time I saw green, I just kept running. Droski made some great reads, and great throws, and we had a lot of success passing against these guys."
Droski and Hall were not done picking St.Mary's apart, after taking a 21-14 lead into halftime. On Dakota's second possession of the third quarter, Droski found Hall running past his defender again for a 74-yard score to give the Cougars a 28-14 cushion with 7:16 left on the clock. At that point, Droski and Hall were both having big nights in the air against the defending state champs. Droski went 10-15 for 245 yards and four touchdowns, while Hall amassed over 235 yards of total offense.
"We knew Droski and Hall would put up big numbers this season," Baur added. "Those two have worked hard over the summer, and it paid off against a very good St.Mary's team. I can't wait to see what they do the rest of the year."
"This was obviously a really big win for us in my first game as head coach, but, it's only one game. We are going to enjoy this win for two days, but we have Ike next. I'm just really proud of my boys."
Senior Evan Sivec also had a huge night for Dakota, catching one of Droski's touchdown passes in the first half, and returning a punt for a touchdown early in the 4th to put the pressure on St.Mary's by making the score 35-21. But the Eaglets did not fold. On the ensuing possession, they marched the ball down the field, and capped the drive off with a 25-yard touchdown run from junior running back RaShawn Allen to make it 35-28 with 8:55 remaining. Allen rushed for over 150 yards and two scores.
The real drama came near the end of the game when Dakota was near its own goal line looking to ice the game, but fumbled the ball when linebacker Dwayne Chapman laid a huge hit on a Dakota ball-carrier, and the Eaglets recovering the ball at the Cougars' 13-yard line. But that was short-lived. Just a couple of plays later, Allen was stood up by a couple of Dakota tacklers, and fumbled the ball right back to Dakota.
The win marked the second time Dakota defeated a defending state champion in its season-opener. They defeated Clarkston in 2015.
"This win means a lot for us, beating a team like that," Sivec said. "No one thought we would beat them. I don't think anyone picked us to beat them, and we did. This was a great way to open our season."
