While the Clarkston Wolves (7-0) continued an undefeated season with a 57-34 victory over the Rochester Falcons (0-7) on Oct. 6, their rival, the Lake Orion Dragons followed suit, defeating Farmington Hills Harrison.
Both teams are 7-0 with one game remaining before their meeting on Oct. 20. With both teams in contention for thae Oakland Activities Association Division I championship, the stage is being set for a winner-take-all battle between the two perennial favorites.
Facing Rochester at home, Clarkston jumped on the board late in the first quarter after Bryant Craft intercepted a pass from Falcons Quarterback William Cribbs and ran to the Falcons? 17-yard line.
The Wolves changed up their running attack, with Erik Thompson, and Colton Tweed carrying the load against the Falcons. Thompson, who had four touchdowns while gaining 243 yards rushing, set up the team’s first score on a 15-yard pass reception to the one-yard line. Tweed, who has seen more carries more in recent weeks, pushed the ball through the middle of the Falcons? line for the first of his three touchdowns.
Rochester put together its own scoring drive at the beginning of the second quarter culminating in a nine-yard touchdown catch by Mario Cutraro from Cribbs.
Clarkston answered back when Chad Blackstone streaked down the sideline on a 42-yard run and Tweed took the ball into the end zone on a six-yard jog, making the score 14-7.
Andy Lyons made an acrobatic interception for Clarkston after reading a Cribbs pass. Thompson picked up his second score on a 60-yard run at 8:39. Minutes later, Thompson took a handoff from Quarterback Eric Ogg and ran 38 yards for a touchdown, giving Clarkston the 26-7 advantage.
Ogg passed for 120 yards in a game dominated by the rushing attack.
The Wolves? added another touchdown by Chip Swayne and a Ryan Breen 21-yard field goal to finish the first half with a 36-7 lead.
In the third quarter, Thompson exploded for a 65-yard touchdown run that put the Wolves up 43-7.
The Falcons refused to quit playing as Cribbs connected with Tight End Joseph Merlo for a 36-yard touchdown pass with 8:27 remaining in the quarter.
The team put together a 98-yard drive after a Breen punt pinned the Falcons at its own two-yard line. Cribbs kept the ball and ran in for a toucdown of his own with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Thompson added his last score on a 50-yard run and increased Clarkston’s lead to 50-21.
The Falcons scored in the fourth quarter with touchdowns from Cutraro and a Cribbs rushing touchdown.
Tweed’s final touchdown with two minutes remaining was the final score of the game.
‘In the first quarter we played great, it was a 7-7, and they got up 14-7’and then they jumped on us three times in a row. Our guys didn’t quit, we’re not going to quit if we’re down 45 (points), we’re going to compete,? said Rochester Coach Drew Kisabeth.
Wolves Coach Kurt Richardson was unhappy with some of the plays his team made.
‘Our defense wasn’t very good, we had too many stupid penalties. We just didn’t play good solid football.?
Tweed agreed with Richardson’s assessment of the game.
‘It’s a win, it wasn’t pretty, but we stayed tough, and we came strong when we had to play tough,? he said.
Clarkston travels to play Birmingham Groves (1-6), a team coming off a close loss to West Bloomfield in week seven, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13.
The Wolves clinched a spot in the OAA Division I playoffs with a win over Royal Oak on Sept. 29.