The magic number for Clarkston is now ‘one.?
The Wolves defeated Troy Athens 38-7 on Sept. 22 to improve to 5-0. They need to win just one more game to make the state playoffs.
‘We will talk a little bit about that,? Clarkston football coach Kurt Richardson said. ‘One game and we are in the playoffs, but we have to get better. We can’t just have the first team get better. We have to have the seconds and thirds get better. If someone goes down, they can step in and be ready. That’s sometimes hard for those kids, because they think, ‘yeah right.? But last year (Mike) Kittle went down. We had some kids go down in key games last year. It happens. Everyone has to get better.?
Clarkston will take on Royal Oak at home Friday night. The Wolves can clinch a playoff berth, but will have plenty of distractions leading up to Friday’s showdown because of homecoming week.
‘I always worry about homecoming week,? Richardson said. ‘There is Powder Puff and all that stuff, sometimes they forget there is a football game. We have to stay focused.?
Distractions won’t be all the Wolves have to worry about. The Ravens are at 4-1 this season and have outscored their opponents 123-27.
‘They have a solid defense,? Richardson said. ‘They don’t give up many points at all. They will give us everything we can handle.?
Junior running back Jimmy Popp was the star for Clarkston against the Red Hawks. Popp rushed for 73 yards and four touchdowns.
Popp’s first touchdown came after Clarkston recovered a fumble on Athens? first drive. Popp pounded in a 2-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
With 11:50 left in the second quarter, Popp ran in a 11-yard touchdown to put Clarkston up 14-0.
Popp ran in his third touchdown with 6:51 left in the second quarter, and Ryan Breen hit a 33-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the half to put Clarkston up 24-0.
Quarterback Eric Ogg put the Wolves up 31-0 when he had an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:33 left in the third quarter. Popp ran in his final touchdown from 10 yards out with 2:29 left in the third quarter.
The Red Hawks scored their only points of the game when Brian Cischke connected with David Sawyers for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 3:29 left in the game.
‘I thought the defense played well again tonight,? Richardson said. ‘They caused some turnovers. They bent a little bit, but they didn’t break. They did a good job.?
Richardson’s only complaint was the amount of flags Clarkston had.
‘We had too many penalties,? he said. ‘I’m not going to be satisfied with that. I don’t care if it’s 100-0, we can’t have penalties.?