Expectations are simply that, what someone or a group of people expect. Defying expectations makes something or in this case, a team special.
The 2006 Clarkston Wolves football team was expected to finish in the middle of the Oakland Activities Conference, with a record supposed to be one game above or below .500.
What happened this past season was Clarkston’s best performance in nearly a half a decade, an 8-1 regular-season record and a regional finals appearance in the state playoffs and a 10-2 overall record.
‘I’m awfully proud of my kids. Everybody had us at 5-4 and in the middle of the league at the start of the year. Here we are playing for the regional championship,? Coach Kurt Richardson said after the team was eliminated by eventual state champion Macomb Dakota.
The season rolled along through late summer and into the fall as the Wolves downed OAA opponents, including a 28-14 win over perennial power Farmington Hills Harrison in week three.
The cross-town Lake Orion Dragons gave the Wolves a scare on their own turf, dominating Clarkston for a 32-8 victory and the outright OAA I championship the two teams were battling for.
Clarkston rolled over Romeo in the opening round of the playoffs and recouped to defeat Lake Orion in Dragon Country 34-14 before a no-doubt stunned full-house.
‘That was probably one of the biggest wins we’ve had here,? Richardson, who began his tenure on the sidelines twenty years ago, said.
‘They’ll be talking about that for 25 years.?
The season will be very memorable for Richardson.
‘It was a great season, I was happy for the kids,? he said.
‘It was a very rewarding season.?
The team’s three pronged running attack with Jimmy Popp, Chad Blackstone and Erik Thompson (all of whom will return next season)made the offense very flexible for senior quarterback Eric Ogg and his favorite target, fellow senior Kevin Badgley.
‘That just makes us better and gives us more directions we can go and vies us different things we can do,? Richardson said.
Richardson said next year’s squad should field another winner.
‘I think we’ll be very good again.?