Clarkston football forfeits two games
Veteran Clarkston football coach Kurt Richardson and the Wolves had to forfeit their first two games of the season due to the use of an ineligible player. File Photo
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
CLARKSTON — After learning it had used an ineligible player, Clarkston announced Monday night that it had alerted the Michigan High School Athletic Association and has forfeited two of its first three football games.
The Wolves, who won their first three games over Rochester Adams (28-21), West Bloomfield (34-7) and Troy Athens (40-20), have forfeited their wins over Adams and West Bloomfield.
The changes drop Clarkston to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the OAA Red Division. Adams was an OAA crossover opponent, while West Bloomfield was an OAA Red Division contest.
“This was just some miscommunication and unfortunately these types of things happen when games are played before schools starts,” offered Clarkston Director of Athletics Dan Fife. “It’s happens (across the state) every year.”
The student was ruled academically ineligible by the school and was not a transfer.
“It was self-reported,” admitted Fife. “(The student in question) was found not to have passed. We had to verify it and found out that he was ineligible.
“I think we’ll be fine,” continued Fife. “With the players and coaches we have, we’ll bounce back. We have a very talented senior class and a great (coaching) staff.”
Coaches and administration held a meeting Monday night for its football program to announce that it has forfeited its first two games.
Clarkston is currently ranked sixth in the Super 25 and third in Metro North by the Detroit News and fifth in the Super 10 and third in Division 1 by the Detroit Free Press. The Associated Press had not released its poll as of Monday night.
The Wolves have posted eight straight winning seasons and each of those teams has reached the postseason. Clarkston, saddled with injuries last season, finished the regular season 7-2 and 7-3 overall in 2010 after a Division 1 pre-district loss to Grand Blanc (38-14). The Wolves were second in the OAA Red Division last season.
Adams and West Bloomfield will benefit in the win column due to the forfeits and the games could have a huge impact not only on the OAA-Red title chase this season, but also on the Week 8 OAA Crossover game between teams in the OAA-Red and OAA-White divisions. Adams is now 3-0 and West Bloomfield 2-1.
The forfeits will leave Clarkston’s back against the wall, as the Wolves will have to win five of their last six games in order to make the postseason for the ninth straight year and 15th time in head coach Kurt Richardson’s 25 seasons. In 22 of Richardson’s first 24 seasons as head coach, Clarkston has posted winning seasons.
Clarkston finished under five-hundred in both 2001 and 2002. The Wolves have made the Final Four three times, including 1999, 2000 and 2009, and the regional finals in 2006 and 1994.
John Johnson, communications director for the MHSAA, said that these ineligibility issues happen every year.
“A lot of these ineligibility issues fly under the radar from the media except for football,” he said. “With the nine-game schedule and playoff points, this is a sport where it really matters because teams have to qualify for the postseason. We get these pretty regularly all the time. A lot of the time it happens after students are back in school and something is discovered after games have been played.”
Last season, Hillsdale had a player ruled ineligible and had to forfeit a playoff game. Four years ago, Grand Rapids Christian had to forfeit several games which cost it a postseason berth.
Clarskston's Matt Dellinger and the state-ranked Wolves will now play the rest of the season with their backs against the wall after the school must forfeit its first games, both wins, after an ineligibility issue. File Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
“We can’t talk about this particular case right now because we are still fact-finding,” noted Johnson of Clarkston’s self-reported case. “But when everything is official, we will be able to make a statement.”
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