Tough lessons learned

BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Fans from Clarkston and Oxford excitedly cheered on both sides of the Wolves’ football field last Friday night with less than a minute to go in the game.

Josh Luther runs 80 yards on a kick off return for a touchdown at the end of the first half against Oxford to tie the game, 10-10. Photo by Wendi Reardon Price

The visiting Wildcats moved the ball four yards closer to the endzone. Their next two passes went incomplete, putting them at the fourth down with the Jungle student section roaring for the Wolves’ defense to stop them one more time.
With 7.1 seconds remaining, Wildcat Drew Carpenter connected a touchdown pass to Joey Miller, ending the game with a 20-17 win for Oxford.
“We haven’t been focused,” stated Kurt Richardson, long-time head coach for the Wolves. “We don’t practice hard. We thought we were good. They kicked our butt – that’s all there is to it.”
“This is a great team,” said Bud Rowley, head coach for Oxford. “He (Richardson) has a great coaching staff, great kids.”
Clarkston opened the scoring 11 seconds into the second quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Tristan Mattson, out of the hole of Matt Miller.
Oxford scored ten points before the first half closed after scoring on a touchdown and a 25-yard field goal from Samuel McMaken, his first of two for the night.
The Wolves tied the score moments later as Josh Luther caught Oxford’s kick off return. He kept going as he gained speed, heading into the endzone on a 80-yard return.
Luther struck again opening the second half with another touchdown off another kick off return, this time off an 86-yard run, putting the score 17-10.
“We need to fix that,” said Rowley. “It was a glaring point of the night because they didn’t do anything. We need to revamp that.”
Jake Jensen went 4-for-7 for 37 yards in passing with one first down. Miller caught the first down pass.
Jake Billette rushed the ball six times for nine yards and Jacob Honstetter rushed the ball two times for 17 yards. Mattson kicked a 44-yard field goal and was 2-for-2 on PATs
Keagan King and Hayden Temple led defense with ten tackles each. Rocco Spindler and Garrett Dellinger had eight tackles each. Zach Reid and Luther had six tackles each. Dylan Erskine and Jayviar Suggs had five tackles each.
The Wolves head to Lake Orion on Friday. The two teams will join together for Football for a Cure/Pink Out. The funds raised from the charity game goes to McLaren Oakland Foundation and A Mother’s Wish Foundation.
Kick off is at 7 p.m.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.