The Colts of Troy (5-2) may have trampled on the Wolves gridiron in the first half, but the Wolves (7-0) howled back in the second to bring a homecoming victory of 27-16.
‘Troy is a great football team, so well coached and it’s just a great win for us,? said Clarkston Head Coach Kurt Richardson.
The Wolves kicked the ball off in the first quarter and were able to hold the Colts back from a touchdown, but not from a 26 yard field goal kicked by Kevin Muma to put 3 on the scoreboard. The Colts defense kept the wolves away from the red zone.
In the second quarter Clarkston turned the ball over but the Wolves defense fought the Colts to 4 downs where Muma kicked another field goal from the 49 yard line with 4:39 left on the clock, bringing the colts to a 6-0 lead.
Troy was able to get seven more points after a Matt Brockberg ran a 37 yard interception return and a field goal by Muma, but the Wolves determined to get a score capitalized with a 65 yd halfback option pass setup by Luke Osborn to Luke Prudhomme.
Then Jimmy Popp rushed in for a touchdown with 1:45 remaining in the second quarter. With 1.8 seconds left on the clock, Muma got one more field goal for Troy bringing the first half to a close with Troy 16 and Clarkston 7.
‘The first half we bent, we bent but we didn’t break we had that interception, but I got to give Nick Shamoun a lot of credit because he threw that pick and hey it was a crappy pass but he came back and played a great second half. He kept his composure and bounced back,? said Richardson.
In the locker room Richardson told his team not to panic but to keep their composure and make something happen when they receive the kickoff in the second half.
‘We were fine,? said Richardson.
The Wolves returned to field for the second half with fresh blood in their veins. They answered their coach’s call to duty as Shamoun threw and 85 yard touchdown pass to Erik Thompson with 10:57 on the clock bringing the wolves two points behind.
‘Erik was outstanding for us. He’s our big play guy,? said Richardson.
The wolves? defense held the colts scoreless in the second half. Late in the third quarter with 4:44 on the clock Chad Blackstone was able to rush 20 yards into the red zone giving the wolves their first lead in the game 20-16.
‘I thought they played a fabulous second half,? said Troy Head Coach Gary Griffith. ‘They took everything away from us, they were more physical than us the second half, they made a number of big plays.?
With 3:44 on the clock, Thompson was able to get in the end zone one more time after a 69 yard pass from Shamoun.
This brought the score to its finality of 27-16. Troy lost their chance to score after a dropped pass in the end zone and an interception by Julius Porter who ran it back for 29 yards with 2:07 on the clock.
The wolves who haven’t won a league title since 2000, will battle their arch rival, Lake Orion at home next week for their final league game and for the league title.
‘We don’t want to share it with anybody,? said Richardson. ‘We’re thinking about the big picture, with home advantage in the playoffs. There is a lot at stake.?
Kickoff is at 6:55 p.m.