Seniors Chris Trimmer, Centrus Williams, Jr. and junior James Stottlemyer continued a Wolves tradition last Thursday night.
They danced while their teammates smiled and cheered after their 24-22 victory over Macomb Dakota in the season opener.
‘For an opener against Macomb Dakota, I will take it,? long-time Clarkston Varsity Football Head Coach Kurt Richardson smiled.
The Wolves opened the first half with two touchdowns on 80-yard drives.
The first one was made when senior quarterback DJ Zezula connected a 12-yard pass to senior Alex Popp, waiting in the endzone with 1:56 left in the first quarter.
With 4:24 remaining in the second quarter, Austin Egler turned over possession from the Cougars to the Wolves with his interception.
The next big play came when Zezula connected a 51-yard pass play to junior Nolan Eriksen, bringing the boys to the 14-yard line.
Two plays later, Zezula ran into the endzone on a keeper, finishing 80 yards in eight plays.
Richardson pointed out this year’s offense is different from last year.
‘We don’t have that running back we are profiling,? he said. ‘DJ is carring the ball a lot more. Our goal was to get him more carries.?
Eriksen scored his first touchdown for varsity and one for his birthday with 10:52 left in the game.
‘We were sloppy at the end,? Richardson admitted, referring to the Cougars scoring in the last six seconds of the game. ‘You get a team like that- they will come bakc and get you. You have to put people away. You have to finish. Other than that the kids played a pretty good game.?
Zezula was 7-for-12 on passing with one interception for 176 yards and one touchdown. Senior Merrick Canada caught two passes for 87 yards and Popp caught three passes for 32 yards.
Zezula was the leading rusher for 108 yards on 16 carries.
‘DJ did some great things for us,? said Richardson. ‘Nolan ran exceptionally hard. He reminded me of some kid that ran for us last year.?
Eriksen rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries and Williams had four carries for 20 yards.
Junior Alex Kessman was 3-for-3 on PATs and scored on a 25-yard field goal.
‘Our kicking game was good,? Richardson added.
Senior Jack McKillop led defense with eight tackles and senior Jack Selke had six tackles in the game. Egler had two interceptions.
‘Austin was outstanding for us on defense,? said Richardson. ‘Defense moved the ball pretty well at times. We came up big when we had to. It was kind of like bend but don’t break.
The Wolves focus for this week is Bloomfield Hills, 0-1, a new OAA Red foe in their sophomore year as a program.
The game is at Clarkston High School stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.