Two out of three isn’t bad, but having three teams from a program headed to the championship is a great feat.
The Clarkston Chiefs, for the first time in its 36-year history, sent one each of its freshman and junior varsity and the varsity squads to Super Bowl II, Northern Youth Football League championship game at Wisner Stadium in Pontiac on Nov. 4. The organization consists of two each of the freshman and JV squads and one varisty team due to the number of players enrolled.
The Chiefs? freshman blue squad, un-scored on in the playoffs, won 8-0 in an overtime defeat of the Lapeer Steelers. The JV blue team won 25-18, ending a 20-game winning streak by the Pontiac Panthers, a stretch as old as the NYFL itself. The JV Chiefs (261 yards) had nearly five times more rushing yards than Pontiac (48 yards) and held several of its rushers to negative yardage.
The varsity squad was halted by the Panthers older squad, 37-6. They wrapped up the season at 10-2, with both losses coming at the hands and feet of Pontiac. The Chiefs were the first team to score on the Panthers this year during their regular-season meeting.
The freshman blue team’s boys turned around a 3-5 record from the previous year to go undefeated this season, 11-0.
‘They worked very hard,? second-year freshman coach Erik Sen said.
‘This year we focused on defense’on tackling and speed. To have that come to fruition’was a great accomplishment for the kids.?
The evolution the team undertakes in the three-month season is rewarding,? said Sen, one of the nearly 60 volunteer parent coaches and assistants.
‘The best thing is watching the kids develop from the first day of the season to the last game’to see their confidence grow.?
Sen became involved after his son Ian, a member of the JV blue team, played for the Chiefs? freshman squad.
‘I felt it was a point in my life where I needed to get involved,? Sen said.
‘I started out coaching for one reason, but I will continue because I enjoy watching the kids grow into confident young men,? he added.
Joel Wells, head coach of the JV blue team, is an alumnus of the program, as he played for the Chiefs as a youth.
Wells, a second-year head coach, began by coaching his son, and after he left the Chiefs, Joel decided to continue coaching.
‘I’ll coach forever if work allows it,? Wells said.
‘I just love football in general.?
The coaches were unsure if this year’s team could match the 2005 club and its 7-1 regular-season record.
‘Midway through the season, we realized no one could stop the power running game. So we stuck with that,? Wells said.
Varsity coach Steve Ellsworth is on the receiving end of the talent that comes to the head of the Chiefs? pack as they hit their teenage years. Two years ago, the Chiefs did not have enough players registered for the program to have a varsity team.
The separated divisions for the players at the freshman and JV levels works in the varsity’s favor, Ellsworth explained.
‘They get to unite to combine to make a great team,? he said.
Ellsworth has been coaching his son Cody, 12, for the past five seasons.
‘Once you start, you’re pretty much addicted.?
‘It’s been a great experience and a great organization,? he added.
‘I like that it promotes memories and family activities,? Ellsworth said of the program.
All levels of the program utilize the Clarkston Wolves? schemes so players will be familiar with them if and when they play for Clarkston High School in the future.
‘We work directly with the high school, we run the same offenses and the same defense schemes they do so kids in third grade are working with a program’so they’re familiar with the terminology and the play calling and positioning,? Chiefs President Larry Mallace said.
‘They (high school coaches) have been very instrumental in putting this together’we’re acting as a feeder system,? Mallace added.
The Chiefs also offer opportunities for like-aged girls to learn cheerleading and pom-pons.
Registration for the Chiefs? football and cheerleading and pom-pon squads begins in May. Their seasons will begin in the summer.
The program has grown to 320 players and cheerleaders, and nearly 60 coaches and assistants.
In 1970, the Chiefs were born after area parents brought a team to Clarkston because their children had to pay in Waterford, the nearest program at the time.
The team got its name from the donated jerseys it wore from Pontiac Central High School.
‘My biggest goal is to develop quality human beings,? Mallace said.
‘To make sure they understand how important a good education is, character, leadership and role model. Those are things I think are more important than football. Clarkston has never churned out a professional football player, but they have churned out a whole lot of great people,? Mallace said.
executives, business people and moms and dads. The life skills we’re trying to teach them are as important or more important than the athletic skills.?