A more faint-of-heart coach might have reacted differently to a football game decided in the last minute of play.
“As long as it’s a ‘W,’ I don’t care,” Kurt Richardson said.
The Clarkston varsity coach was liberal in his praise for his squad after a 35-28 “pre-district” victory over Walled Lake Central on Friday, Oct. 31.
From the very beginning, the game was a back-and-forth, razzle-dazzle scoring contest. The Vikings hit the end zone first, with 11:25 remaining in the first quarter.
“I wasn’t happy, but we didn’t panic,” Richardson said.
Clarkston came back, and it was a 14-14 tie at the half.
It was 28-28 with about a minute left in the fourth quarter and fourth down with the Wolves in possession. A Clarkston timeout was followed by a Walled Lake Central timeout. Richardson said the coaches had originally called a run play, but during the second timeout the offense coaches called a pass play.
Sam Palace passed to Aaron Powell for the winning touchdown, but Richardson wants credit to go around, including to assistant coaches Rich Porritt and Pete Gallagher.
The Vikings came into the game with an 7-2 record, and the fact that the Clarkston offense managed 35 points was the basis for Richardson’s praise of the offensive line (Brett Kenerson, Chris Brookes, Chris Miller, Jacob Beno and Jacob Meissnest).
“I think they deserve a lot of credit,” the coach said.
Palace completed six passes out of 14 attempts for 153 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan Kaltz caught four of those passes for 75 yards and one touchdown, while Brandon Weaver racked up 64 yards on nine carries, one of those crossing the goal line.
On defense, Jonathan Moehlig made seven tackles. Brendan Quisenberry had six tackles and five assists, and Jason Talbot and Addison Turk each had five tackles and three assists. Turk was credited with two fumble recoveries.
In the Michigan High School Athletic Association playoff system, the next step is the district championship against Flint Carman-Ainsworth (with Clarkston hosting at 7 p.m. Friday.)
The Cavaliers, a perennial Big Nine Conference powerhouse, matches Clarkston’s 8-2 season record. Richardson said Carman-Ainsworth has a fine squad of skilled players.
“Defensively, they’re awesome,” he said.
The winner of Friday’s game will advance to the Division I, Region 2 championship game against the winner of Saturday’s matchup between New Baltimore Anchor Bay and Utica Eisenhower.