BY WENDI REARDON
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Wolves put their third win in the books with a 30-0 win over their hosts Stoney Creek last Friday.
“It was a great first half,” said Kurt Richardson, longtime head coach for Clarkston Varsity Football, about the boys scoring 24 points in the first 24 minutes.
He paused for a moment before reflecting on the second half.
“We lost our focus,” he said. “It was a terrible second half – turnovers in the second half. Sloppy in the second half. We ran three plays the second half and fumbled on the first two. We need to clean that up.”
He reflected more on the game and added with a smile, “but again we got a zero and all the guys played.”
The Wolves opened the game with possession and held onto it until they scored on a 35-yard field goal from Zach Mansour with 4:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Two minutes later Nick Stalworth intercepted a pass and ran to the 33-yard line in the Wolve’s territory. They closed in on the Cougar’s turf with and landed on the 50-yard line before the quarter closed.   
Quarterback JT King held onto the ball before he was stopped on the 29-yard line to open the next stanza. On the next play, he handed the ball to running back Josh Cantu who scored on a touched as the scoreboard ticked to 11:44 left in the first half. A PAT from Mansour put the score at 10-0.
The Wolves defense slowed Stoney Creek from making any distance on the field with Brendan Barker and Zach Scott making stops and Carson Stottlemyer lent a hand with a sack.
The stops forced Stoney Creek to punt the ball from the 27-yard line, which King caught and brought to the 8-yard line in the Cougars’ turf.
“JT was outstanding in the first half,” said Richardson. “That punt return. Everything he did. He is becoming one helluva player.”
King’s next pass was tipped but didn’t stop senior Tyler Retford from catching in the endzone with 9:12 on the clock. Mansour scored on a PAT, 17-0.
The Wolves’ defense struck again changing possession as sophomore Connor Donahue intercepted a pass two minutes later, putting the boys on the 48-yard line.
King’s pass went incomplete but a flag against Stoney Creek put the Wolves on the 37-yard line. King’s next pass hit his intended mark, senior Ryan Prisby, bringing the boys to the 3-yard line.
King handed the ball to junior running back Michael Fluegel who scored on a 3-yard run with 5:43 remaining in the game. Mansour’s third successful PAT put Clarkston up to 24-0.
They closed the game a touchdown from Donahue with 5:45 remaining.
King went 8-for-12 on passes for 120 yards. Cantu rushed the ball 19 times for 104 yards and Jake Billette rushed the ball seven times for 77 yards.
For defense, Stalworth had five tackles, two assists and one interception. Kyle Genter had four tackles and one assist, Jake Buchmann had three tackles and one assist.
“Defense is getting better and better every week,” said Richardson. “It’s the whole unit. The secondary played well tonight. Kyle played very well tonight. Nick is always playing well. Jake had a good game.
The Wolves celebrate Homecoming as they host Troy Athens this Friday. Kick off is at 7 p.m.

  clarkston, Varsity Football