Before the arrival of the field turf at Clarkston High School’s stadium, the first round playoff game between the Wolves (9-1) and the Romeo Bulldogs (7-3) on Oct. 27 might have easily turned into a ‘mud bowl,? as some games around the county did on that night.
Fans braved the harsh rainy conditions; sitting huddled in groups under a sea of umbrellas to watch the Wolves pounce on Romeo, 21-0.
Senior quarterback Eric Ogg used up his time in the pocket and found daylight outside, turning in two touchdown runs of his own. The first came less than three minutes into the game on a 53-yard scramble, finishing a six-play, 71-yard drive.
‘Coaches keep telling me to run the ball all the time and I finally did and it worked out,? Ogg said.
The victory was great for the team, coming off its first loss of the season one week earlier, Wolves Coach Kurt Richardson said.
‘We talked about bouncing back and this being a character win, a gut-check win where you find out what you’re made of when you get beat and there is a little adversity.
‘I thought we played really well on both sides of the ball, I thought the first score on the scramble by Eric set the tone,? Richardson said.
‘I think scoring first (was important) because with this weather, it could have gotten ugly. On a night like this we didn’t turn the ball over, that’s exceptional’he did a good job and called a lot of audibles tonight and threw the ball well with this stuff (rain).?
Clarkston’s second score came when Jimmy Popp completed the team’s 83-yard trip with a five-yard dash for a 14-0 lead after an Ogg 15-yard rush. The drive started at the Wolves? own 17-yard line after a quick punt from Bulldogs? quarterback Aaron Ploetz, after Romeo set up in a regular offensive formation on a fourth down with four yards to go.
Later in the second quarter, the Wolves took over on downs after outside linebacker Bren Bergquist stopped Ploetz’s rush short of the first down. Clarkston moved the ball 61-yards in five plays, a drive capped with Ogg’s second touchdown run, a two-yard run, giving Clarkston its final score of the night.
The Wolves would move into scoring position midway through the third quarter. After Matt Smith sacked Ogg for a five-yard loss, Ryan Breen’s 31-yard field goal attempt traveled far right of the uprights.
Romeo had a chance to score two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Doug Sharples dropped Ploetz’s pass on fourth down, giving the ball back to Clarkston.
‘They’re an extremely good football team. They’re very fast and very physical. They were successful in limiting our running game. Hats off to them, they did a great job,? said Bulldogs Coach Jason Couch.
‘We thought we had a few formations that would give them trouble, but they adjusted to them really well.?
With the win, Clarkston moves to the district finals where it will face off against week 9 opponent Lake Orion, which defeated Waterford Mott handily, 40-0. The next meeting is at Lake Orion High School on Nov. 3.
The Wolves are looking to improve over the last meeting, where the Dragons dominated in a 32-8 victory at Clarkston, giving them the Oakland Activities Association championship solo for the first time ever.
‘We’re looking to totally change our game plan. We need to play a lot better than we did last time,? Ogg said.
The winner of the district final will move on to the regional finals versus the victor of the district final game between Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (7-2) and Macomb Dakota (9-1).