Clarkston and Groves were two very similar teams coming in to their game in Birmingham on Oct. 15 Both were fighting for the playoffs; both had beaten Farmington Hills Harrison and lost to Rochester Adams and Troy Athens; and both had homecomings marred by rain.
Clarkston won their homecoming game going away and Groves followed suit pummeling the Wolves 27-9 to punctuate their homecoming week.
Now both the Wolves and the Falcons? records stand at 5-3 with one game remaining and a playoff berth hanging in the balance.
“They controlled the ball, kicked our butts on defense and they outplayed us on special teams, they just outplayed us in every phase of the game,” said Clarkston Coach Kurt Richardson.
Groves took the opening kickoff and methodically marched down the field chewing up nearly six minutes of the first quarter on a scoring drive featuring a bevy of runs and culminating with a 15-yard pass from senior quarterback Peter Mohan to senior wide receiver Mike Husband. One missed extra point later, the score was 6-0 Groves.
Clarkston’s offense was unable to make anything happen on the ensuing drive and was forced to punt. However, senior defensive back Scott Daly was able to filch the ball back for the Wolves as he picked off an errant Mohan pass and returned it to the Groves 32-yard line.
Clarkston worked the ball down to the Groves? 10-yard line before their drive sputtered, but junior Mike Kittle got the Wolves on the board with a 33-yard field goal at 11:44 of the second. Kittle was hampered by a lingering injury to his left shoulder, which prevented him from taking his normal role splitting carries with senior running back Scott Lyons.
Richardson felt that neither injuries, nor the cold rain which beat down throughout the game, were deciding factors in the contest.
Neither offense showed any life until late in the half when Clarkston got the ball back at Groves? 49-yard line with a little over two minutes remaining. The Wolves used a big 23-yard run by Lyons and some timely receptions to push the ball to the nine-yard line where senior quarterback Scott Leigh spiked the ball with :11 left in the half, bringing up fourth down.
The Wolves instead of taking the easy three points opted to live dangerously and faked the field goal.
Kittle took a direct snap from center and ran towards the right sideline. At the last moment before he was to be pounced on by a Groves defender, he flipped the ball into the end zone to the waiting arms of sophomore tight end Bren Bergquist. The extra point try was missed, but the Wolves took a 9-6 advantage into the half.
“(Clarkston) is so well coached and they are such a good team, we need every inch we can get,” said Groves Coach Brendan Flaherty.
Flaherty’s team was able to get that inch in the fourth quarter and once they did they turned it into a mile. The fourth opened with Clarkston punting from their own 28-yard line. Unfortunately for the Wolves the snap to Kittle was short and the kick was blocked by Groves. Junior Aaron Webster recovered the blocked punt for Groves and seconds later was celebrating his team’s newfound 14-9 lead.
“The blocked punt killed us,” said Richardson.
To make matters worse on Clarkston’s next drive Leigh threw an interception which was brought back to the Clarkston 33-yard line. Groves converted the turnover into a touchdown run by sophomore Quentin Moten with five minutes remaining in the game and added a final tally by senior Norman Yono late.
Clarkston was unable to move the ball effectively in the second half. The Wolves managed only 48 yards from scrimmage after half time and did not pick up a first down until their final possession of the game.
The Wolves must now prepare for a tough battle at Lake Orion on Oct. 22 in order to ascend to the six-win plateau required by the MHSAA for eligibility in the State tournament.
The Dragons have already qualified for the State tournament with a 6-2 record and have beaten the Wolves three years in a row.