By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Lapeer — Clarkston Varsity Football ended the Lightning’s undefeated season with a 48-13 win on Friday night.
For Justin Pintar, head coach for the Wolves, it was the best game of the season so far.
“We have had games we have played really good on one side or the other,” he explained. “That is by far the most complete game of football where we did what we wanted to do offensively and then our defense held. We couldn’t ask for more.”
A bonus for Pintar was having a 41-6 lead going into the second half, which he used to bring more players into the game.
“It was much needed,” Pintar said. “We have played a lot of close games. It was great to get a nice lead and get kids in. Those kids compete. They put a ton of time in at practice. It’s hard when you can’t get them in on Friday nights because they deserve some playing time, too. I was really happy we were able to get everyone in the game.”
The Wolves opened the night with possession and on the first play Lapeer intercepted senior quarterback Steven Kossak’s pass for a touchdown return. They took the lead 6-0 after the PAT was no good.
“Not the start you want,” Pintar said. “But our kids never hung their heads. They didn’t get down. They kept competing. I thought it was really impressive we were just able to put that behind us. It never really looked like it effected us.”
Senior Ethan Clark made a 54-yard touchdown run, putting Clarkston on the board. A PAT from junior Eddie Langton put the score 7-6, with 9:42 left in the first quarter.
“To come back and score on that next drive and get up, it calmed our nerves a little bit,” Pintar said. “We are in good shape. We have been really good about our resiliency for the most part. It is just putting together a complete game and that’s what we were able to do.”

Clark struck twice more in the first quarter with seven minutes remaining on a 21-yard touchdown run and with 1:19 remaining on a 5-yard touchdown run. Two PATs from Langton put the Wolves up 21-6.
The Lightning found it hard to score before the quarter ended with a stop from junior Adam Denver and sack from junior Desman Stephens.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Lapeer’s pass was intercepted by junior Wolf Colin Kortman. It led to Clark scoring his fourth touchdown for the night on a 4-yard run with 9:24 left in the first half.
The Wolves finished the first half with a 41-6 lead. Touchdowns were made by senior Kohl Jarvis on a 49-yard run with 7:44 remaining and Stephens on a 22-yard pass from Kossak with 2:34 remaining.
Clarkston finished the night with a 87-yard touchdown run from Kossak with 6:38 left in the game.
Kossak went 5-for-8 in passing for the night with 75 yards. Junior Brody Kosin caught one pass for 36 yards, Stephens caught one pass for 22 yards and senior Aidan Kersjes caught two passes for 13 yards.
Kossak was the leading rusher with 124 yards on eight carries.
“He played a very good football game for us,” Pintar said. “We have seen Stevie at practice. We know he is a good football player, and we keep telling him he is a really good ball player. When he gets his opportunities we are good with him. I was really proud of how he played. He ran the ball well. He had good command of the offense and threw the ball well. I was really proud of how he played tonight especially after that first play. Some kids in that spot being a back up quarterback throw a Pick Six, a lot of kids would crumble. It didn’t effect him at all which is pretty impressive.”
Clark had 109 yards on eight carries. Langton was 6-for-7 on PATs. Lapeer blocked one of his kicks.
Jarvis had three tackles and two assists for the night with one tackle in a loss of yards. Senior Cavanaugh Diton had three tackles and seven assists. Denver had two tackles and five assists and senior Jamael McKinney had two tackles and four assists. Stephens had one tackles, five assists, one tackle for loss of yards and one interception. The interception against Lapeer put Stephens at nine career interceptions, making him the school leader in the Wolves’ stats.
Clarkston (6-2, 4-1 OAA Red) heads to Oak Park (0-8, 0-6 OAA White) this Friday to close the regular season.
“Oak Park is traditionally a very solid football team,” Pintar said. “They have had a tough year, but 2020 they went 0-6. Everyone made the playoffs that year and they won the regionals. They are a team that if you take them lightly, they have players who will hurt you.”
Kick off is at 6 p.m.

  Clarkston Varsity Football, Football