By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
 Lake Orion — Senior running back Ethan Clark hit one of his goals to be the leading rusher in Wolves’ history last Friday night in Clarkston Varsity Football’s victory over Lake Orion.
Clark finished the night rushing 410 yards in the 45-41 win over the Dragons. The game put him at 4,138 total yards for his career, putting him in first place which was previously held by Ian Eriksen with 3,927 career rushing yards.
“I have looked to Ian as a role model and how he ran the ball tough and hard – that’s what I try to do as well,” said Clark, who plans to continue his football and academic career at Princeton. “I love this team. There are a lot of things in this game – tying the OAA Red, rivalry game.”
“For Ethan to eclipse what Ian did is just incredible,” said Justin Pintar, head coach.
Clark added it meant a lot to reach his goal against Lake Orion.
“Before the game, I knew I could reach it,” he said. “Lake Orion has been our historic rival.”
Clark shared a thank you to the linemen.
“Thanks to receivers,” he added. “They block a lot of the time. We don’t pass a lot. Big thanks to them. It’s a big sacrifice they have to make. Also, Coach KR (Kurt Richardson), he moved me up as a freshman. I can’t thank him enough. I want to thank my parents as well for always pushing me.”
Clark scored four touchdowns during the night which started with a 78-yard touchdown run, 51 seconds into the game. Junior Eddie Langton scored his first of five PATs after the touchdown.
Clark scored again with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter with a 15-yard touchdown, tying the game 14-14.

Senior quarterback Michael Hein scored on a 2-yard touchdown 38 seconds into the second quarter.
Junior Desman Stephens followed with a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:48 to go until half time, putting the score, 28-14. With 25.6 seconds left in the first half, Clark scored his third touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run.
The third quarter was scoreless for both teams.
Clarkston opened the final quarter with possession and ran out of downs with 20 yards to go. They punted the ball and Lake Orion started on the 1-yard line in their own turf.
Stephens and senior Nick Waszczenko sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety to put the score 37-28 with nine minutes left in the game.
The Wolves scored with 6:31 remaining in the game off a 9-yard touchdown run from Clark and a 2-point conversion from senior Cole Dellinger.
“We have had that play run in practice for a better part of about 6-7 years,” Pintar said. “We just never had the opportunity to run it in the game. At that point the game was 15 points and I really wanted to go for two to make it a three score game and that ended up to be huge. It was a huge play. It ended up to make the difference in the score at the end of the game. It’s something Cole is going to remember and the kids will remember for a long time.”
Lake Orion scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to close the game by four points, 45-41.
“We talk about limiting the mistakes,” Pintar said. “Unfortunately we have one or two of those big mistakes in every game. Today the mistakes were amplified because they weren’t just turnovers, they were pick six and scoop up and score. If you give teams 14 points to take the ball out of your own hands it’s hard to beat anybody. In a way I am proud we were able to come out of this game with a victory given what we did to hurt ourselves. We know if we clean up those mistakes, we can be a very good team.”
He added looking past the mistakes the team did do a lot of good things.
“We don’t win the game if we don’t do a lot of good things,” Pintar said. “We ran the ball very well, obviously Clark, and broke the single game record as well over 400 yards. We did everything we wanted to do running the football. Even defensively, they had some points there but up until the end, defense played pretty well.”–
Hein completed 5-of-11 passes for 90 yards. Senior Kohl Jarvis caught one pass for 50 yards. Junior Brody Kosin caught one pass for 16 yards and Clark caught one pass for 14 yards.
Clark rushed the ball 410 yards on 37 carries. Hein rushed the ball 46 yards on six carries.
Junior Adam Denver had six tackles and two assists. Senior Cavanaugh Diton had two tackles and nine assists. Stephens had two tackles, six assists and two tackles for loss in yards.
The Wolves finished as OAA Red League champion in a three-way tie with Rochester Adams and West Bloomfield.
“This team has a lot of potential,” Clark said. “We can get there. That’s what great Clarkston teams did once they got to playoffs, they start to focus in. The fact we had so many mistakes, and we still beat a good Lake Orion team shows the level we can reach. If we cut down on those mistakes, we can be No. 1 in the state.”
Clarkston has two games left in the regular season as they head to Lapeer (6-0) this Friday and Oak Park, Oct. 21.
“Lapeer is a very good football team,” Pintar said. “They have talent. They are a very good football team. Their offense is putting up some points. We have played Lapeer a few times before and it is a highly competitive game.”

  Clarkston Varsity Football, Football