FOOTBALL: Clarkston stymies previously-unbeaten Lapeer for seventh regional title in 20 years
BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
LAPEER — One year ago Jake Honstetter didn’t play in any postseason games.
He was a student at Holly High School and his football team finished 5-4 and out of the playoffs picture.
This season Honstetter is in a much different situation.
The senior running back scored the game-winning touchdown for his new school, Clarkston, in helping the eighth-ranked Wolves post a 13-0 shutout of previously-unbeaten and seventh-ranked Lapeer in the Division 1 regional finals at Lapeer. The game was contested in sub-freezing temperatures and with stiff gail-force winds out of the west.
“This is a great experience. These guys welcomed me on Day 1 when my family moved here and it’s like a brotherhood,” said Honstetter. “I’m glad to be a part of it.
“When I got the (call) on that play, I knew I had to get it in there,” continued Honstetter. “It was such a tough game (with the weather). I didn’t know that we’d get another chance.”
On third-and-inches and fourth-and-1, Lapeer was stymied by Clarkston’s stingy defense and the Wolves gained the back on the Lightning 46 with 3:16 left in the third. The Wolves put together a seven-play, 46-yard drive with Honstetter plunging into the end zone from 2 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Tristan Mattson followed with the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 11:53 to play.
Clarkston forced the Lightning to punt on their next possession and the Wolves gained the ball back with 7:56 to play on their own 24. A clock-eating 11-play drive was capped by senior Jake Billette racing down the left sideline for the score with 2:21 to go, sealing the coffin on Lapeer’s stellar season.
“We figured it be this type of game, with the weather and the field conditions,” offered Clarkston coach Kurt Richardson, whose team has won three of the past five state titles. “Lapeer is a class-act program and we knew this would be a close game. We kept improving (as the game moved along). We made some mistakes early, but we kept fighting and found a way to score.”
Since the Lapeer West/Lapeer East merger in 2014, Clarkston is 4-0 against the Lightning, posting a 106-34 scoring edge over Lapeer. This time it was much closer than Clarkston’s 42-7 victory over the Lightning in the 2017 season opener.
“We had some chances, both teams did. They just (capitalized) and we didn’t,” said Lapeer coach Mike Smith. “Clarkston is a great program and where we want to be. We just came up a little short this time.”
Clarkston held Lapeer to just four first downs and 101 yards of total offense — and that’s after the Lightning came in averaging 31.6 points a game and outscored the opposition 347-115 over the first 11 games.
Clarkston has yielded only 13 points over three postseason games — just 4.34 points an outing. The Wolves gave up only 7.6 points a game in last year’s state tournament.
“I thinking the middle of the season we got a little arrogant, a little cocky,” admitted Richardson. “But I think we’ve grown up some. We have made some changes, worked harder in practice to be where we are now.”
Clarkston, making its 10th appearance in the regional finals in 20 years, advances to its seventh Division 1 Final Four in the same 20-year time span.
“I followed them last year, said Honstetter of Clarkston. “What a tradition they have. I’m glad my parents chose to move there.”
Clarkston will play in the state semifinals Nov. 17 against the winner of the Saline/Rockford regional finals at a site to be determined.
Lapeer finishes its best season in its brief five-year history since the merger, 11-1.
Lapeer did move the football down to the Clarkston 32 in the fourth quarter, but could not seriously threaten the Wolves’ zone.
The Wolves racked up 246 yards of offense, including 208 on the slick ground. Billette was a workhorse with 22 carries for 97 yards, Honstetter added 11 carries for 62 yards, and senior quarterback Jake Jensen had 38 rushing yards and 38 passing yards in the win.
Senior Jalen Kirkland finished with 10 carries for 57 yards for Lapeer, and 36 of those yards came on one fourth-quarter play. The Lightning registered only 83 rushing yards and 18 passing yards.
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