By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
It was a win for Clarkston Varsity Football and for McLaren Oakland Foundation last Friday night during the annual Game for a Cure.
The Wolves donned lavender jerseys honoring those who are currently fighting cancer, fought cancer or lost their fight against cancer as they defeated Oxford, 14-3.
“We talked before the game about what this means, what it means for the people they are playing for, the families,” said Justin Pintar, head coach. “We are lucky to have the opportunity to come on the field. We tried to see that big picture. As much as we enjoy this game there is a lot more to life than football. We want them to understand that and I think this game helps them to understand that.”
The other win is money raised from Game for a Cure goes to the McLaren Oakland Foundation to help ease the financial burden for the survivors at Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Clarkston.
During the game, the Wolves scored on their first drive on a 9-yard touchdown pass from senior Michael Hein to junior Desman Stephens. A PAT from junior Eddie Langton put the score 7-0.
Oxford closed the first quarter with a 24-yard field goal from junior Jay Cady with 24.5 seconds left on the clock.

“They had their first drive, went on a long drive,” Pintar said. “Our defense did a nice job of clamping up and getting the stop when we needed to and holding them to three points. Then, after that we were very good defensively, I thought. We didn’t let them run the ball like they want to do. I was really proud of our effort on the defensive end of the ball.”
He added they have been trying to get better every week on the defensive side of the ball.
“It might not have shown last week (against West Bloomfield) but I did think there were things that were better last week and even the week before against (Rochester) Adams,” Pintar said. “Then, to come out and put together a complete game was a much needed and positive sign for us moving forward.”
The Wolves scored again with 4:59 left in the third quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Hein and a PAT from Langton.
“Having him back is a big part of what we want to do offensively,” Pintar said about Hein. “He is our leader on the offense, he runs the show. He has great command of what we want to do. He is a key piece of this team and a team captain for a reason. We love what he has been able to do for us. He did a great job running when they presented the opportunity to run.”
He added the team did have problems with penalties for the night.
“We weren’t as crisp as we needed to be,” he said. “We had penalties that we shot ourselves in the foot with. We did a great job when we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
The Wolves (3-2, 2-1 OAA Red) host Stoney Creek on Friday for their homecoming game.
“They are a very good football team,” said Pintar. “They are going to be kind of similar to what we saw this week. They want to go with a couple of tight ends and run the football – that’s what they do and they do it well. We have to make sure we shut down the run. When they do pass it, we have to make sure we limit the yards on the pass and get some incompletions and get off the field. Hopefully our offense is a lot crisper than they were today, clean up the penalties, take care of the football. We just have to get back to it.”
Kick off is at 7 p.m.

  Football