Wolves fall to rival LO, but ready for rematch

A great rivalry kept both teams low on the scoreboard.
By the end of the 48 minutes, one school had won by three points and it was Lake Orion, 17-14.
‘It was a great high school football game,? said Wolves Head Coach Kurt Richardson after the game. ‘My hats off to them. They are league champions. We knew it was coming. They had been doing it all year. They were beating us outside a little bit and their speed hurt us.?
Dakota Bender scored both touchdowns during the game.
‘They were good,? said Richardson. ‘We needed one more.?
Lake Orion punted the ball on their fourth down and Clarkston caught the ball to take over possession on the Dragons? 25 yard line.
Tyler Scarlett and Dakota Bender spent the next five plays inching their way towards a first touchdown for Clarkston.
Bender finished with a seven yard run into the end zone four minutes into the game.
Jon Avery made the PAT and Clarkston had the lead, 7-0.
Lake Orion tied the score at the beginning of the second quarter from Eric Knoblock’s five yard run.
The Dragons were on their fourth down and 31 yards away from the end zone and had one chance to pull ahead.
Jeff Heath kicked the field goal and Lake Orion pulled ahead, 10-7.
Knoblock scored one more touchdown and the Wolves defense held them down from scoring anymore for the rest of the game.
During the fourth quarter the boys faced some rain, but it didn’t stop them from going for a few more drives.
Bender rushed the ball 32 yards and ended on the two yard line.
Tyler Scarlett passed the ball to Bender and the running back broke through the defense to score a touchdown. A kick from Avery brought the boys, 17-14.
The Wolves ended the regular season 6-3.
‘Clarkston’s defense played well,? said Lake Orion Head Coach Chris Bell. ‘They played hard they gave us different hooks and took some things away. We expected them try to take away certain aspects of our offense and force us to different things.?
They will begin the first round of playoffs this Saturday as they head to Romeo to play the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs? biggest threats are quarterback senior Richard Roth and junior running back Benjamin Brown. Roth has been averaging 119 yards in passing and 170 total yards per game and Brown has averaged 138 yards in rushing and two touchdowns per game.
The Wolves will be ready for it with one extra day to practice this week. Lake Orion will play Utica Eisenhower (5-4) at home on Friday night. If the Wolves and Dragons succeed they will face each other again.
Richardson told Bell, ‘I’ll see you in two weeks.?
‘Hopefully that happens and we will have another great football game,? he said.
The game will be at Barnado Field located at 62100 Jewell Road in Washington Township.
The game begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday.