By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
LAKE ORION — Fans enthusiastically cheered as the Dragons closed their Homecoming game against Clarkston with a 20-13 win last Friday.
“It’s a huge rivalry game,” said Chris Bell, head coach for Lake Orion Varsity Football. “Just classic Clarkston/Lake Orion. It always comes down to the last possession or something crazy. It’s good to be on this side of it. Clarkston and Oxford – those are the two game we want to win more than anything else. It’s a rivalry game and you know those guys well. We’ve gone back and forth over the years. They are very well-coached. They always come in prepared. We love those guys, love competing against them. It’s a great rivalry.”
“Hats off to Lake Orion, they made just enough plays tonight and early on,” said Justin Pintar, head coach for Clarkston. “They made some adjustments defensively that gave us some trouble today. They had a good game plan. I thought we competed hard. I thought they competed hard. It was a good football game.”
The Dragons jumped to a 6-0 lead three minutes into the game with a 29-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Tristan Hill. The Wolves blocked the PAT.
Clarkston took the lead with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from Griffin Boman. Aidan O’Neill scored on the PAT.
On the Lake Orion’s next drive, they finished with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back Jayden Borrero with three minutes left in the quarter. Senior kicker Don Diego Hawkins, Jr. put the Dragons up 13-10 after his PAT.
O’Neill wrapped the first half with a 24-yard field goal, his first of two for the night.

“We’ve got a great kicker, but I tell them all the time I don’t like field goals,” Pintar shared. “And he knows that. We trust him. He was 2-for-2 tonight on field goals and gave us an opportunity there at the end. It’s painful when you go on a nice little drive, especially right at the end of the half.”
The Dragons opened the second half with a seven-minute drive, ending with a touchdown run by junior wide receiver Ryan Rocheleau in the third quarter with 5:22 remaining and a PAT, to further the lead to 20-10.
Bell shared Rocheleau’s touchdown was “absolutely tremendous” and the drive was huge.
“The guys did a good huge job at halftime,” he said. “Clarkston was really doing a good job playing some of the things that we like to do. Obviously, we made some adjustments, our guys did a good job. just carrying it out, being physical.”
Bell added when it came down to if it was the tempo they wanted that “you throw it all out when you play these guys.”
“It’s just do what you got to do to get it done,” he said. “Sometimes it might be slow methodical. Sometimes you score quickly. Just do what you do to get it done.”
O’Neill opened the fourth quarter with a 36-yard field goal.
Bell added defense and offense played great.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” he said about defense. “Obviously we can get better, but that’s a good team to hold them to 13 points. I am very proud of our guys. We weren’t feeling real good about ourselves last week (in the 49-41 loss to West Bloomfield). The yards we gave up, the points we gave up, but to step up with this performance – I’m really proud of them.”
The Dragons (5-2, 2-2 OAA Red) have two games remaining in the regular season as they head to Farmington this Friday and host Saline, Oct. 25.
Bell shared the win over Clarkston puts the team in a good position as they move forward.
“We play good Farmington team and then we finish with Saline,” he said. “We have good ball games ahead of us coming. You play good teams, it gets you ready for the playoffs. Our goal is we are playing great football at the end of the year. There are more championships to be won.”