By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — The Clarkston Varsity Football team closed the regular season with a 32-3 win over Utica Eisenhower last Friday.
“It was probably our most complete game of the season so far,
said Justin Pintar, head coach. “Offensively, we moved the ball and did what we had to do with the ball. Our defense did a great job getting stops, and a lot of times putting us in really good positions. Our special teams did a good job. Our returns were pretty good with the punt in when we had opportunities. Our kick off coverage for the most part was good. We did a lot of good things in all three phases of the game for our most complete game of the year.”
The Wolves opened the night with a 2-yard touchdown run by Lukas Boman in the first quarter and a PAT from Aidan O’Neill to put the score, 7-0.
During the second quarter, Clarkston added ten more points with a 31-yard field goal by O’Neill and another touchdown run from Boman, this time five yards on the carry.
Griffin Boman had a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, with the score and a 2-point conversion, the Wolves led 25-0.
Eisenhower got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with a field goal.

“They is a very good football team especially on offense,” Pintar said. “They have the ability to run the ball, and that’s probably as good passing attack we have seen in terms we have seen they have been able to do all season. Defensively, we did a good job really limiting that and not giving up big plays. They had one big shot in the pass game but we were able to make the tackle and able to keep them out of the end zone. Other than that one big pass, I think we did a really good job against the pass. Then, against the run we were really able to hold them into check from running the football. For a team with the offense ability to run and pass, we did a real good job defending them all game long.”
Clarkston closed the night with a 4-yard touchdown run by Trey Setter, 32-3.
Pintar added it was a good game to prepare the team for playoffs which starts this week.
“They won the MAC Red which is comparable to ours,” he said. “Eisenhower was 7-1 coming in and that’s seven wins against some really good opponents. For us, we look at it as that’s a very good quality opponent and for us to win the way we did should boost our confidence going into the playoffs.”
The Wolves (6-3) drew Lake Orion (6-3) for the MHSAA Division 1 Football District 2, Region 2 Pre-District game. Clarkston lost to the Dragons 20-13, Oct. 11.
“We are super familiar with each other so there’s that element, and that presents some challenges because it’s a team that knows us really well,” said Pintar. “The flip side is we know them really well. We know what they like to do. You hope that you learn from the last game. It felt like when we played them we had some opportunities on offense where we just didn’t quite finish drives – that hurt us. We had too many negative plays. If we can eliminate those negative plays and finish those drives it works out different.”
He added defense played really well except three plays which led to touchdowns and ended up hurting Clarkston
Pintar shared both offense and defense are playing well right now.
“On defense, we held Eisenhower about 150 yards of offense. The week before that against Bloomfield Hills we were able to stifle them,” he said. “Even the Lake Orion game, half those yards came from those three plays and we gave up about 212 yards total. The last 3-4 weeks our defense has been playing really well. We just have to make sure we don’t give up the explosive plays. I like how defense is playing. They are flying onto the football. They are playing physical. They are getting after it.”
A strength for the offensive side of the ball is versatility.
“Teams know we like to run the ball but our pass game has been really solid when we have Alex Waszczenko to throw, he’s been very consistent. His completion percentage is up in the 65% range which means when we do throw we are executing and we are getting positive plays,” Pintar said. “Then, when we run the ball we are able to mix it up with our backs. A lot of it has been Lukas and Griffin Boman who have been very good for us. But also we are able to get the ball to our wide receiver’s hands, not just in the pass game but the run game. I feel like we are spreading the ball around to a lot of different guys and when teams see that it makes it harder to prepare for because it’s not just key in on one guy and trying to stop that one guy. Now they have to be ready for everybody.”
Kick off is 7 p.m. at Lake Orion High School on Friday.
“It’s a team we respect. There is a history there,” Pintar said. “It’s a big rivalry game. Sometimes those rivalry games can bring a lot of emotion into play. But it’s also a game we are looking forward to. You don’t always, in football, get a chance to play a team again and here we have another opportunity to play a rival and get that bitter taste out of our mouth from the last game.”

  Clarkston Athletics, Football