By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
CLARKSTON — Fans cheered and rallied behind the Clarkston Varsity Football team in their homecoming game last Friday as they defeated West Bloomfield, 35-20.
“I went back and looked, we’re about .500 the last ten years,” said Justin Pintar, head coach. “They win one, we win one, they win one, we win one. It’s been a heck of a rivalry here for the last decade. Every year this is a game we circle on the calendar and say this is a huge game for us and to get another win in the OAA Red. Then, those playoff points later on down the road, this was a this was a huge win for us.
“We did a good job,” Pintar added. “We were able to run the ball between the tackles and we were able to get outside on them. We were able to get some good runs up the middle and then also be able to stretch and go outside which made a big difference in this game but that’s a big part of who we are is being able to establish to run and when we do that, we’re pretty darn good on offense.”
The Lakers put three points on the scoreboard with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter on a field goal from Justin Ward, their first of two for the night.

The Wolves took the lead with 39.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter when sophomore Alex Waszczenko connected a 60-yard touchdown pass to senior Brady Beck. A PAT from junior Aidan O’Neill put Clarkston up, 7-3.
Twelve seconds later senior Laker Kamren Flowers returned a kick off return with a touchdown as West Bloomfield took the lead, 10-7 after a PAT from Ward.
“We did a great job bouncing back from what was a big play on their part,” Pintar said. “We talk a lot about good play, bad play, next play, and I thought that we did a good job of that because you’re never going to hold the team like West Bloomfield to zero. They’re going to make plays. They’re going to hit some shots. It’s how you bounce back from that. I thought we did a great job of bouncing back from that kick return and the defense did an outstanding job.”
Four minutes into the second quarter, junior Griffin Boman scored on a 3-yard touchdown run and O’Neill succeeded on his field goal attempt to put the Wolves in the lead 14-10.
Boman struck again four minutes into the second half when he scored on a 13-yard touchdown run.
The Wolves held onto the 21-10 lead going into the final quarter.
Ward cut the lead when he scored on his second field goal of the night with 10:15 remaining in the game.
Two minutes later, junior Lukas Boman scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. He added another touchdown with four minutes left in the game on a 43-yard touchdown run.
West Bloomfield closed the night with a touchdown from Elisha Durham.
“I thought the defense played outstanding,” said Pintar. “Twice we held them to field goals which I think anytime you have an offense that’s dynamic as they are and holding them to three points – those are wins, right? So, we got two field goals out of them and then the one touchdown that they got was at the end of the game. No excuse to allow that, but that kid made a heck of a throw out of that thing. It looked like it traveled about 70 yards in the air, and their receiver made a good play on the ball. But that’s the kind of athletes they have, and that’s what you got to guard against and those big plays. They hit two big plays on us. Really other than the kick return that they had and then the big pass at the end, our defense did a great job. Both sides of the ball really did an outstanding job tonight.”
The Wolves (3-2, 2-1 OAA Red) heads to Troy Athens (4-1, 0-4 OAA Blue) this Friday.
“We have a good balance,” Pintar said, reflecting on the first five games. “Our defense has been very good throughout the season. Last week (against Rochester Adams) was probably the one time where the defense had a hard time getting off the field, but they kind of chipped away at us. It was a weird game. It kind of felt like we didn’t play that bad defensively. We just had a hard time stopping them on four downs. But, that’s a very good Adams team that can do that to you. Our defense has been very good all season, and I think they should continue to be very good.
“Then, on the offensive side of the ball we’ve got a lot of different ways that we can kind of spread the ball around,” he continued. “Obviously Griffin and Lukas Bowman are a big part of that. But, we’ve got other weapons, too. We were able to hit Brady Beck on a screen pass that was really nice. He’s a good weapon for us on offense, and we got multiple guys like that that can go out there and make plays on offense. It helps too because you can’t focus in on just one player.”
Kick off is 7 p.m.

  Clarkston Athletics, Football