by Becky Andrus | Feb 22, 2022 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
Royal Oak has their new Football Coach.
Written By Sammy Taormina
The Ravens went with in with their new varsity football coach.
Royal Oak hired Dustyn Truitt as their new football coach. He replaces Ray McMann whom stepped down last month.
Truitt teaches Physical Education at Royal Oak Middle School and also coached their football program. He has coaching experience at Farmington and at Livonia Clarenceville.
“I’m honored to be the head football coach at Royal Oak. I’m excited to lead a community and a school district that has such a passion for football. I’m fortunate for the opportunity and I can’t wait to get to work” Truitt said in a press release.
Truitt takes over a program that went 2-7 last season and is 9-24 since 2017.
The Ravens believe that Truitt is the guy to turn things around.
“We are extremely excited about the new addition of Coach Dustyn Truitt to our Raven family. As an educator in our district he brings an enormous amount of energy and experience where he truly understands how impactful educational athletics is to school culture. Coach Truitt is a person of high integrity where he puts the needs of all of our students in the Royal Oak community first. He is a great addition to our athletic staff and we look forward to working with him in every capacity” said interim athletic director Brian Gordon.
Truitt will have some questions heading into the season with his new program. Program strength is a major concern coming into the season. What should help Truitt is that he has quarterback Hudson Siddle and running back Mekhi Jenkins along with linemen Ellie Finch and Jordan Wood coming back.
He will also have major challenges in the Gold this season with arch rivals Berkley and Ferndale along with Pontiac and Avondale. Royal Oak opens the season on the road at Holly where they will take on former Troy Athens and Berkley coach Billy Keenest. They close the season at Madison Heights Lamphere and also have Troy Athens, Troy, and Farmington as their non league on the schedule.
Truitt knows there are major challenges ahead for him and his new program. “We are going to work endlessly to build a program that makes our students, facility, and community proud, a team of highly character individuals who are enthusiastic about the game of football and visible leaders within our school community” Truitt concluded.
Thoughts
This is a very interesting hire for a few reasons. In reading the press release, Truitt knows the players especially those in the lower levels coaching at Royal Oak Middle School. He says the right words but making the community proud usually means producing results. Royal Oak has had a ton of struggles on the field (9-24 since 2017.) The Ravens have a ton of things when it comes to program strength and depth.
It will be very interesting to see how Truitt and the players adjust to each other. There will be a transition period. Truitt has a lot of work ahead of him with the program.
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.
Here is the Press Release.
https://www.royaloakschools.org/downloads/rohs/head_fb_coach_press_release.pdf
by Becky Andrus | Jan 26, 2022 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
This is a blog that is devoted to the OAA. We cover 23 schools from Oakland County to Wayne County. From Oxford to Harper Woods. This blog will give insight and projections around the OAA.
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
by Sammy Taormina
Keenest takes over at Holly.
Written Wednesday January 26th at 8:40 AM
Updated Wednesday January 26th at 10:15 AM
In a surprising move there will be a new coach at Troy Athens next season.
Coach Billy Keenest has stepped down at Troy Athens and accepted the coaching position at Holly.
“Over the last four seasons there have been a few things I have enjoyed more than being your head coach. Leading the Red Hawks has been an incredible experience in my life and I won’t forget Hawk mornings, practices, Friday night lights, some of the greatest memories I will ever have. Over the last few years life has taken me in many directions and to new opportunities. Today I am resigning as your head football coach. I will always love the Hawks and forever have red and gold in my heart. I want to thank all of my former players first and foremost. I love you guys more than you know. Secondly to all our assistant coaches I love you guys and appreciate all your hard work. The fine board is still running. Thank you so much to the parents who have supported me and this program. I’m sad to leave Athens but it’s time to move on. Thank you and GO HAWKS.” Keenest said on Twitter to Red Hawk nation on Tuesday.
Keenest was 11-22 in his four seasons at Troy Athens. He also spent one season at Berkley in 2016.
Keenest was the offensive coordinator at Troy Athens under then coach Josh Heppner for a time. He also played his high school football at Oxford under Bud Rowley.
The Red Hawks should a pretty good team despite losing Keenest. They will be in the Blue next season. Whoever comes to Troy Athens has a ton of experience on both lines with linemen Alex Afhan and Luke Summerall coming back along with linebacker Jaden Najm on the defensive side of the football. The offense will be very interesting to see if they keep the same offense or go with something different. They need to find a quarterback but have proven skill players wide receivers Austin Pokley and Noah Vivian along with running back Anthony Ashor coming back as well. Program strength looks to be getting better with Troy Athens and it will be very important for the new coach to keep the program at a high level.
It will be very interesting to see what happens with Troy Athens football program and who becomes the new head coach next season.
Thoughts
I was very surprised to see Keenest leave Troy Athens after four years coaching the program. Keenest is not the first OAA coach to leave for the Flint Metro League. Coach Brad Zube left Stoney Creek to take the Brandon job in 2017. Holly is a very interesting program. The Bronchos are 19-33 since 2016. The Flint Metro League has a ton of proven challengers in Lake Fenton, Brandon, Linden, and Fenton. Holly will be going through a transition period and should be one of the teams to watch next season. The Red Hawks should be pretty good next season with the experience coming back but whoever takes over the program
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.
by Becky Andrus | Jan 17, 2022 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
This is a blog that is devoted to the OAA. We cover 23 schools from Oakland County to Wayne County. From Oxford to Harper Woods. This blog will give insight and projections around the OAA.
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
By Sammy Taormina
Royal Oak will have a new Football Coach This Fall.
Written Wednesday January 12th at 10:10 AM
The Ravens will have a new football coach this fall.
Royal Oak Coach Ray McMann has stepped down from the program according to a very accurate source.
McMann has coached the Ravens since 2013. He was 25-49 in his eight years coaching at Royal Oak with two postseason appearances.
McMann was a huge part of bringing football to Royal Oak especially in the youth levels despite the wins and losses. He has also been a positive influence with his players as well leading them to life lessons every day.
Royal Oak finished 2-7 last season. It will be very interesting who the Ravens find as their new coach. There is a lot of talent coming back with running back Michael Jenkins, quarterback Hudson Siddle, and linemen Ellie Finch and Jordan Wood. They have some talent coming back.
Whoever the new coach is will have a very tough job ahead of him. Program strength will be the key for the new coach. There are also a ton of questions on the varsity especially in the defensive secondary and depth will also be a huge question mark heading into 2022.
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.
by Becky Andrus | Dec 23, 2021 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
This is a blog that is devoted to the OAA. We cover 23 schools from Oakland County to Wayne County. From Oxford to Harper Woods. This blog will give insight and projections around the OAA.
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Schroeder and Lake Orion Part Ways.
By Sammy Taormina
Written Wednesday December 22nd at 10:00 AM
Lake Orion and Coach Joe Schroeder are parting ways.
Schroeder stepped down on Tuesday morning in a move which shocked the boys basketball world.
Jose Andraedas was named the interim coach. He was an assistant at Stoney Creek and Lake Orion along with coaching at Seaholm and Almont.
Schroeder finished with a 21-22 record in his two and a half years coaching the Dragons. He went 11-5 last season which included a share of the Blue. Lake Orion was 2-3 this season prior to the school and Schroeder parting ways. The Dragons fell to 2-4 falling 63-54 at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep on Tuesday night.
“I enjoyed coaching at Lake Orion but it was the right time to step away. I want to thank all of my players, the administrators, and members of the community that supported me in my two plus seasons here” Schroeder said to MIPrepZone’s Scott Burnstein.
Lake Orion football coach and athletic director Chris Bell mentioned to Burnstein that he is wishing for him nothing but the best moving forward. “I appreciate everything Joel did with our boys basketball team. He accomplished a lot and did right by us. There was no major incident that led up to this, there was some stress in the program and it’s just best for everyone involved to move on.”
Lake Orion is off until the New Year when they host Lapeer on Tuesday January 4th.
The Dragons have been through a lot in the last few weeks however their goals are still in front of them. It’s important for them to stay together in this very difficult time.
Andraedas brings a ton of coaching experience which helps. He led the Dragons in their opening night win over Rochester Lutheran Northwest to kick off the season.
It will be up to Andraedas to fix Lake Orion’s issues. This has been a program with a ton of questions coming into the season. Program strength is a big concern and still is right now.
It’s going to be very important especially next season whoever the coach is to build and address program strength.
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing story.
Here is the column from Burnstein.
https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2021/12/21/joel-schroeder-steps-down-as-lake-orion-boys-basketball-coach/
by Becky Andrus | Dec 22, 2021 | High School Sports
MHSAA NOW: The weekly newsletter of the Michigan High School Athletic Association
THIS WEEK
Our final edition for the 2021 calendar year leads off with the announcement of an exciting opportunity to support Oxford as a statewide sports community. We also look back at the week in girls and boys basketball, celebrate competitive cheer in “Title IX at 50” and discuss an important issue in officiating as we move into a new year.
Do you know a high school sports fan who would enjoy this weekly newsletter? Share this link to register on MHSAA.com and be added to the MHSAA NOW mailing list.
AROUND THE STATE
Schools across Michigan will be dedicating February to “Oxford Strong” in support of Oxford Community Schools as the district continues to mourn the deaths of four students during a shooting at the high school Nov. 30. The Oakland Activities Association – of which Oxford is a member – as well as the Kensington Lakes Activities Association and Detroit Catholic High School League, with merchandise vendor E.A. Graphics, have been primary organizers of this effort.
|
How last season ended can affect how next season begins – and among trends this season are a number of girls basketball programs picking up again after strong finishes last winter. That’s also a theme among headliners in our Breslin Bound report this week, as we cruise into a holiday break that will slow things down for some – but still include a number of notable matchups, as we’ve also covered here.
|
No school for the next two weeks hardly means no basketball for many teams across the state. Holiday showcases, classics, tournaments, etc., canceled last season because of the COVID-related late start are returning to close this calendar year, and they’ll surely clue us in more on the teams to watch once we return and turn to 2022.
|
From its start in 1994, competitive cheer has given tens of thousands of athletes an opportunity to present an impressive array of athleticism, stunts and enthusiasm in a competitive format, while being cheered by hundreds of thousands during one of the MHSAA’s best attended tournament sports.
|
The Zeeland girls bowling team fell short in its bid for back-to-back Division 1 championships last season. However, Zeeland isn’t short on talent this winter as it returns everyone from March’s run to the quarterfinals. “I think having everyone back is great, and also having a full season,” said Zeeland coach Tony DiLaura, whose team lost to eventual runner-up Belleville at the Finals after qualifying fourth to match play.
|
Kalkaska and the rest of the Lake Michigan Conference may not know much of the basketball family history of Harbor Springs point guard Olivia Flynn. But likely they know all of her high school basketball history. Flynn, just a freshman for the Rams, has already racked up three 30-point plus performances – over just five career games – entering tonight’s LMC game at home with the Blazers.
|
It’s time to call it what it is … a major crossroad and tipping point. For more than a decade, the numbers of registered MHSAA officials have steadily declined from a high of about 13,000 to, today, around 7,700. While the COVID pandemic has certainly exacerbated those figures over the last two seasons, two of the top reasons officials give for leaving the avocation remains adult spectators and coach behavior.
|
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials. Here is this week’s segment – Ball Over Backboard – Listen
|
GAME TIME
MHSAA TV
For a complete list of all games and streaming options go to mhsaa.tv.
Click here for a schedule of available student broadcast video streams.
by Becky Andrus | Dec 13, 2021 | Feature Writers, High School Sports
This is a blog that is devoted to the OAA. We cover 23 schools from Oakland County to Wayne County. From Oxford to Harper Woods. This blog will give insight and projections around the OAA.
Monday, December 6, 2021
Brother’s Tribute to the Myre Family.
Written Monday December 6th at 8:00 PM
Trent, Ty, and Tate: My tribute to Tate Myre and the entire Myre Family
By Anthony Taormina
One night in September, as Lake Orion and Oxford played each other in a JV Football contest in Oxford, at halftime, there was a group of Oxford Football Players playing football, having fun with each other. One of those kids was Tate Myre. I watched them all play, thinking, this is what football is about, this is what friendship is all about. At 0-3, that team could have pouted but they didn’t, they stayed together, as a result, they were able to get into the playoffs and win a playoff game. My brother wrote a wonderful article about Oxford Football, an article I bet Tate read, I look back to those group of kids playing, yeah that same group of brothers, playing for each other, playing for nothing to lose.
I remember watching Tate along with his brothers Trent and Ty, all of them very successful student athletes, each of them great academic scholars, football players, wrestlers but even better men, well loved, honest, willing to do anything, really can’t ask for a better trio of brothers. Tate very much looked up to his brothers, you could tell in his football play, his twitter posts, often retweeting one or both of his brothers, their play, personalities, very similar. A lot of credit goes deservingly so to Mr. and Mrs. Myre, they raised three wonderful kids, each of them, star football players, star wrestlers, loved their friends, and community, in many ways, the Myres, all of them represent Oxford proud and will continue to represent the town proud. I know there has been talk about naming the football stadium after Tate but I think they should name after all the Myre’s, Tate very much learned from his brothers, each of them learned from their parents, you can’t ask for better than that.
As a Dragon, I had the pleasure to watch all the Myres play football, despite always wanting to beat Oxford year in and out, it has been a treat to watch them all play, their hard work, their competitiveness but also their overall personalities are what I’m most impressed with, putting their team, their community, their student body, putting all of that first over self. I knew that many young ones at Oxford look up to all the Myres and no doubt they will continue to. Their personalities, how they care about everyone they come across, going to bat for others, this is how I will always remember the Myres. When it comes to Oxford Football, five names stand out (sorry Coach (Billy) Keenist even though from an 06 perspective that would be you) Rowley, Line, Brown, Carpenter, and Myre, those names stand out and should always stand out.
On Sunday, Tate decided to befriend me on twitter, I have befriended a lot of his Oxford brothers and like I do for my Lake Orion kids, I will check up on Oxford kids as well and talk to Oxford Coaches. After Tate befriended me, I said to myself that I would befriend Trent, Ty, and their Dad, it will be up to them if they want to follow me or not, after Tate followed me, I reached out, I thought at first that he wanted to follow my brother since he writes the OAA blog so I direct messaged him and thanked him for following me on Twitter, he told me that he appreciated it. That meant a lot, it is something I will value forever. I had truly hope to check up on him from time to time and see how he was doing, no doubt my best friend the late great Steven Crowder will do that for me now.
The next time I go to Oxford and look at that football field, a lot of emotions will come out, one of a beautiful family that has devoted their lives to Oxford Football, Oxford Wrestling, and Oxford Athletics, how two wonderful parents raised three boys, not just to become great athletes but even better men, it shows in the Oxford Community. Together, will be Oxford Strong but also Myre Strong.
#42 #OxfordStrong
