BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Fans roared as running back Ethan Clark made an 11-yard run into the end zone with five minutes left in the Clarkston Varsity Football’s Battle at the Big House game against Davison last Friday.
“It’s a dream come true,” Clark said about scoring his touchdown in the University of Michigan Stadium. “I have been a Michigan fan since I was a kid. It meant a lot and my dad was on the sidelines. It’s great.”
His touchdown, along with a 2-point conversion off a pass from quarterback Mike DePillo to wide receiver Michael Hein put the Wolves up 29-20 against the Cardinals.

The game finished with Clarkston taking the win, 29-26, after Davison scored a touchdown with 2:27 remaining, with their PAT attempt blocked.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight because they had some guys who left and we had some guys who left,” Clark said. “It was kind of unpredictable how it was going to be. We just gave it everything we got and turned it into a win. It’s a great first game to prepare us for our hard schedule.”
Long-time Clarkston head coach Kurt Richardson added it was a good season opener against Davison.
“It’s outstanding,” he shared. “Two great football teams in this environment.”
The Wolves opened the game with possession and eight minutes later scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from DePillo to Brady Krzciok. A PAT from Edward Langton put them at 7-0.
Davison started on the 40-yard line and were quickly shut down by Clarkston with stops by Jacob McMahon and Mekhi Battle.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, the Wolves took over on the 29-yard line. Lucas McKinney gained 56 yards for the boys after catching a pass from DePillo and running to the 15-yard line before being stopped.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Adrian McClain scored 10-yard touchdown run, putting the Wolves, 14-0.
The Cardinals tied the game, scoring twice before the quarter closed.
“It was a bummer,” Clark said. “But we knew we were still in it because it is back to 0-0 when it’s tied like that and we dominated earlier.”
Davison scored four minutes into the third quarter, taking the lead 20-14.
The Wolves took the lead with 3:26 remaining in the quarter off a 21-yard pass from DePillo to Lucas McKinney, 21-20.
“It’s kind of our philosophy – we want to bring heat,” Richardson said. “They were picking it up early then at the end we started doing better with it.”
DePillo went 14-of-21 in passing for 155 yards. McKinney caught six passes for 107 yards. McClain caught two passes for 26 yards and Jacob Beck caught three passes for 16 yards.
Clark was the leading rusher going 107 yards on 20 carries.
“He is just a great kid,” said Richardson. “Ethan is the kind of guy he would sit on the sidelines if it made us a better team. He is all about the team. He doesn’t care about carries or stats.”
McClain rushed the ball 39 yards on three carries and DePillo carried the ball ten times for 31 yards. Langton went 3-for-3 on PATs.
Caden Ladd led defense with four tackles and six assists. Desmond Stephens had three tackles, four assists and one interception.
“They played pretty well,” Richardson said about defense. “They (Davison) do some good things offensively. That quarterback, I don’t know where he came from but he’s pretty good. It was an outstanding football game.”
Caleb Stalworth had two tackles, eight assists and one tackle for loss. Evan McClorey had two tackles and six assists. Battle had two tackles, two assists and one sack with a loss of six yards. Ian Olsen had two tackles and two assists.
The Wolves (1-0) head to Birmingham Seaholm (0-1) on Thursday in an OAA crossover game.
Kick off is 7 p.m. at Maple Field, 2436 West Lincoln in Birmingham.