‘Defense wins championships? is a motto passed from different generations and applicable to many sports. Clarkston’s defense literally won a friendly scrimmage on the gridiron Aug. 16 against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s by providing their only offense in a 6-0 victory.
Linebacker Bryant Craft scooped up an errant fumble near the Eaglets? 35-yard line and sprinted to the end zone for the score with 11:39 left in the second quarter. Clarkston missed the point after, but the lead would stand.
The teams played in their annual scrimmage at Clarkston High School for one half (24 minutes) of football. The Wolves (10-2, 2006) avenged an Eaglets (8-3) victory last season with the win.
Clarkston coach Kurt Richardson was unimpressed with the Wolves? offense.
‘Defensively we were very impressive, but offensively we had too many turnovers,? he said. ‘We’ve got to work on the offensive line.?
A lack of discipline, misunderstanding the offensive snap count and jumping offsides plagued the line, Richardson summed it up as, ‘stuff that’s not acceptable.?
OLSM coach George Porritt also voiced displeasure about his team’s abundance of penalties.
‘There were a lot of penalties and I thought (Clarkston) did a great job on defense. Their defense won that half of a game right there by doing a very nice job and putting a lot of nice hits on us,? Porritt said.
‘Both teams had a lot of penalties, not a very good start for either offense, but defense wins games.
‘Our offensive line’s got to get a lot better or we’re going to struggle.?
The scrimmage gave Richardson a better idea of the team he’ll send out in Friday’s season opener against Royal Oak.
‘We’re looking at the pecking order of some players. Some players are winning spots and others are losing them,? he said.
Two players certain to play a big role defensively are Craft and fellow linebacker Carlo Mollicone, big timers on the district championship team of a year ago.
Richardson also likes what he sees from speedy defensive back Julius Porter. He will see time in the secondary as well as the offensive side of the ball at times, Richardson said. Porter was part of a kick-returning tandem with Erik Thompson last season. Thompson is again slated for work at receiver, but the man throwing him the ball isn’t as clear.
‘That’s still up in the air,? Richardson said.
Clarkston graduated last year’s starter Eric Ogg. His former backup, senior Nick Shamoun and sophomore Tyler Scarlett are in contention for the No. 1 spot.