FOOTBALL: Clarkston rallies back to thwart West Bloomfield in overtime
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CLARKSTON — For as much that went wrong for Clarkston over the first two-plus quarters, everything worked out right in the end.
The Division 1 10th-ranked Wolves rallied back from a 21-7 third-quarter deficit with 17 unanswered second-half points to upend defending OAA Red Division champion West Bloomfield, 24-21, in overtime in a showdown between unbeaten and state-ranked teams.
West Bloomfield came in ranked second in two separate polls, but it was Clarkston (3-0, 3-0) that won the battle to take over sole possession of first place in the six-school OAA-Red.
“This is what high school football is all about,” beamed Clarkston coach Kurt Richardson. “I said to (West Bloomfield coach) Ron Bellamy during an injury timeout, “Isn’t it great to be out here?’ This was a great high school football team where it was an absolute battle in those trenches. West Bloomfield has some great lineman in there, too.
“We were resilient, kept battling and found a way to win,” added Richardson. “I thought we did a great job in the second half (after that 80-yard pass play). We contained them and I thought we wore them down a little bit in the second half.”
Clarkston’s offensive line anchored by Notre Dame-bound Rocco Spindler, Garrett Dellinger, Ben Hass, Owen Foster, Cole Dellinger and tight end Blake Kosin, controlled the line of scrimmage during most of the second half to aid the Wolves’ comeback.
“I know Rocco and Garrett are the leaders out there, but Ben Haas and the other guys all had a great second half. It was a war on these lines and I thought they stepped up and helped us come back,” said Richardson, who is in his 34th season at the Wolves’ helm.
Clarkston scored the only points in overtime on Steven Rusnak’s 31-yard field goal on 4th and 14, while the Wolves blocked Jake Ward’s game-tying 32-yard attempt to seal the deal.
“We never stopped working. We never gave up, that’s our job,” said LSU-bound Garrett Dellinger, one of several college prospects on the offensive and defensive lines for Clarkston. “We were able to stay together as a family and come back and beat them. Winning the OAA-Red is one of our goals and this was just the next step. We want to win the league this year, then districts and see how far we can go this year.”
Clarkston, which finished an injury-plagued 3-6 last season, saw West Bloomfield (2-1, 2-1) grab its 14-point lead with a quick strike with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter. Senior quarterback Alex Short found a streaking Maxwell Hairston for a 80-yard TD pass down the middle of the field where the Kentucky-bound Hairston caught the bullet, split defenders at midfield before racing to the end zone for the 21-7 advantage with 8:38 remaining in the third.
The Lakers could not convert again. Clarkston dominated the lines in the trenches after that point.
“We knew this would be a hard-fought battle and we knew Clarkston’s game plan. I’ve been here 12 years now and we’ve played Clarkston forever. We knew what they would try to do,” said Bellamy, whose team defeated Clarkston 24-0 last season. “We made some mistakes and you cannot do that against a powerhouse team like Clarkston. They make you pay for those mistakes.”
Clarkston put together a long 16-play, 97-yard drive that ended when junior quarterback Mike DePillo scored on a 1-yard plunge on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull Clarkston to within 21-14 with 11:54 left in regulation.
After Clarkston’s Evan McClorey recovered a West Bloomfield fumble at the Lakers’ 28 yard line, the Wolves tied the game at 21-21 four plays later when sophomore Ethan Clark broke free up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown run.
The game-tying score came with 10:16 left in regulation, although neither team would threaten again in regulation.
Clarkston was held to 45 years of offense in the first half but led in the opening minutes. The Wolves’ Caleb Stalworth picked off a Short on the first play of scrimmage down to the West Bloomfield 10. Three plays later, DePillo scored on a 6-yard keeper for the 7-0 lead with 10:23 still left in the first quarter.
West Bloomfield put together a long 80-yard, 11-play drive with Dillon Tatum going around left untouched for a 7-yard score with 6:00 remaining in the opening frame to tie the score at 7-7.
On the Lakers’ fourth possession, West Bloomfield ventured 67 yards over 11 plays and was capped when Donovan Edwards — who currently has 45 offers from Division I schools — left over the top of the pile at the goal line from 1 yard out to put West Bloomfield up 14-7 with just 2:28 left in the half.
DePillo was only 5-for-11 passing for 38 yards, but rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries. Clark, who left the game with an injury early in the fourth quarter, had 109 yards on 19 rushes for Clarkston, which ended up holding a 280-256 edge on total-yards-offense.
Short finished the night 15-for-23 passing for 173 yards — 80 on one play — and added 49 rushing yards on 10 carries. Hairston had two catches for 102 receiving yards and Edwards was limited to three catches for 41 yards and only nine rushing yards.
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