Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes junior Kyle Cartier (31) makes a tackle on Royal Oak Shrine’s Dan Romano in a 31-21 victory on Friday, Sep. 28, 2018. (DAN FENNER – For Digital First Media)

Always a strong indicator of success, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes won the turnover battle against Royal Oak Shrine on Friday, recording five defensive takeaways that helped propel its offense to a 31-21 victory.

The Lakers scored the first 17 points of the game, all by capitalizing on the Knights’ early mistakes.

WOLL junior Grant Ross nabbed a pair of first-quarter interceptions from his safety position that set up the offense with short fields to navigate.

On another early drive, Jack Loeffler forced a fumble once Shrine had reached the red zone, which was recovered by teammate Noah Robak.

“We pride ourselves on certain fundamentals. We work at it every day in practice,” Lakers coach Jason Albrecht said. “We like to blitz, but my big thing is that we should be able to play our base defense just as well.”

Clinging to a 10-point lead In the fourth quarter, Robak made an interception over the middle that halted the Knights’ momentum at a crucial juncture.

On Shrine’s next possession, WOLL senior David Valent came unblocked to deliver a crushing third-down sack that left the Knights with no choice but to punt.

Valent added another sack and Robak made his second interception before the game was up.

“We started strong. I don’t think we fizzled too much, but we gave up a big play here and there. That happens, but we ended stronger,” Albrecht said of his defense.

Having improved to 4-2 on the season, the Lakers will need a carryover performance defensively when traveling to face Clarkston Everest Collegiate on Friday for a Catholic League Intersectional II division game with major title implications.

Source: Defense guides Waterford Our Lady in win over Shrine

Photo Gallery: WOLL vs Royal Oak Shrine Football