By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
ORION TWP. — The Lake Orion Dragons fell 34-16 in their rematch against Clarkston in the district semifinal last Friday.
“We know what the rivalry is about, and anytime you lose a rivalry game it’s got a little extra sting to it,” said Clarkston varsity football head coach Justin Pintar. “I think that motivation was there for us to come back in this playoff game and do what we did last year – come and win one in the playoffs. Credit to these guys, we talked about getting better from week seven, and I thought we did that today.”

The Wolves opened the game with possession of the ball and finished with a 55-yard touchdown run from junior running back Griffin Boman with 8:29 remaining in the first quarter. A PAT from junior kicker Aidan O’Neill put the score, 7-0.
Boman finished the first quarter with another touchdown run, this one in six yards with 21 seconds left on the clock. O’Neill was successful with his PAT attempt putting the lead 14-0.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, the Dragons were on the board with seven points. Senior wide receiver Kyle England caught a pass from senior quarterback T. R. Hill and made a 77-yard play for a touchdown. Senior kicker Will Hoffman scored on a PAT as the Dragons went 80 yards in three plays.
With 19.7 seconds left in the quarter, Hoffman scored on a 28-yard field goal, closing the gap, 14-10.
The Wolves weren’t done yet with just a few seconds on the clock. As time expired Boman made a 58-yard touchdown run while avoiding Lake Orion’s defensive stops along the way to put Clarkston up 21-10 with a PAT from O’Neill.
Clarkston’s lead continued to grow five minutes into the second half as junior running back Lukas Boman caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Alex Waszczenko. O’Neill’s PAT attempt was blocked as the lead went up to 27-10.
Lake Orion scored on their next possession with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Hill to senior wide receiver Jahmari Cooper three minutes later. The Dragons were unsuccessful on their 2-point conversion attempt.
The night closed with a 1-yard touchdown by Waszczenko and a PAT from O’Neill with 1:33 left in the game.
The Dragons finished the season 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the OAA Red, tying for second place with Clarkston and Rochester Adams.
Clarkston (7-3) heads to Rochester Adams (8-2) this Friday for the MHSAA Division 1 Football District 4 playoff. -Wendi Reardon Price