BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Clarkston’s gridiron heroes ran to the student section to celebrate with the Jungle their big 51-7 win in their home opener against Bloomfield Hills last Friday night.
“It was a team effort,” said junior Jack Gurn.
“After the tough loss against Southfield, we came back and battled together as a team,” said junior Blake Kosin. “We had to refocus. We definitely got the job done.”
Clarkston opened the game with possession of the ball. Within three minutes, they scored their first touchdown on a 14-yard pass from sophomore Mike DePillo to senior Devin Parkison. A PAT from senior Chris Acevedo put the Wolves 7-0.

As Bloomfield Hills attempted to tie the score, they were stopped by sophomore Caleb Stalworth and senior Connor Partee. They attempted one more time on their fourth down when freshman Cole Dellinger broke up the pass, giving the ball back to Clarkston on the 46-yard line.
On the Wolves’ first play DiPillo’s hand off went to senior Matt Miller, who ran into the end zone.
Clarkston scored three minutes into the second quarter as DiPillo connected another pass to Parkison, this time 56 yards for a touchdown. DiPillo then connected a pass to Kosin for a 2-point conversion.
The Blackhawks took possession and found themselves stopped this time by senior Hayden Temple, once on a tackle and then on an interception as the clock marked 8:17 to go in the quarter.
Gurn scored on the Wolves’ first play on a 5-yard run. He scored another touchdown with 2:49 remaining in the quarter off a 2-yard run.
“It’s the linemen,” he said about his successful touchdown.
Kosin agreed and added, “I thank my linemen for blocking for me and thank my quarterback, Mike, for throwing me some great throws tonight. It’s an amazing feeling to get in the end zone, it really is.”
Kosin scored a touchdown at the end of the first half off a 9-yard pass from DiPillo to put the score 44-7.
The Blackhawks’ lone score was made with five minutes remaining in the second quarter with Alec Ward catching a touchdown pass.
Clarkston’s last score of the night came from junior Alex Hayward on a quarterback keeper for a 9-yard touchdown with less than six minutes to go in the game.
DiPillo went 11-for-14 for 245 yards with three touchdowns. Parkison caught two passes for 70 yards for two touchdown passes. Miller caught three passes for 83 yards and Kosin caught two passes for one touchdown and a 2-point conversion.
Miller rushed the ball once for 46 yards and had a touchdown on his run. Gurn rushed the ball eight times for 37 yards with two touchdowns. Hayward rushed the ball once for nine yards and one touchdown. Acevedo went 5-for-6 on PATs.
The defense had a mix of guys contributing to stopping the Blackhawks throughout the night. Senior Dylan Erskine and sophomore Evan McClorey led with three tackles and one assist each. Senior Ty Blanks had two tackles and two assists, junior Rocco Spindler had two tackles and one assist, Temple had two tackles, one assist and one interception. Freshman Ethan Clark had one inception at the end of the first half and Hayward recovered the ball in the end zone for safety with 1:34 remaining in the first half.
The Wolves (1-1) host Oak Park (1-1) this Friday in an OAA Red/White crossover game.
“If we play how we’ve been playing hard for this week, I think we will be successful,” Gurn said.
Kosin added the win over Bloomfield Hills should give the team motivation.
“Go back to practice on Monday, watch film, and break down what Oak Park has to offer,” he continued. “It should be a fun week.”
Kick off is at 7 p.m.

  Clarkston Varsity Football, Football