With two games to go until the Wolves secure a berth in postseason playoffs, they’re looking to knock off Royal Oak this Friday.
The Ravens are 0-5 in OAA Red and 1-5 overall, including two shutouts, but the boys and coaches aren’t taking it lightly.
“Here on out it’s going to be showtime,” said Tony Miller, defense coordinator. “We can’t make any mistakes because it will cost us.”
“It is our last road game,” said long time Wolves’ Varsity Football Head Coach Kurt Richardson. “It will be nice to be home for the last two games of the regular season.”
The boys in blue and gold braved rain, cold and wind to claim their fourth victory last Friday.
Senior runningback Joey Goss led Clarkston in their 28-0 victory over Rochester, scoring four touchdowns against the home team.
“Joey was outstanding,” Richardson said. “I thought that may have been Joey’s best game but I said that a week or two ago and he keeps getting better. I hope that is the case.”
With the driving rain and wind, the offensive line knew they had to play differently for this game.
“I knew we were going to have to run the ball a lot,” said Goss, adding senior quarterback Mitch Baenziger was sick all week.
“A shoot out to my offensive line.They opened up some really nice holes for me to run the ball. Plus, defense was good. The guys stepped up.”
This week in practice, the boys are focusing on execution, turnovers and their health.
“We are looking at this week to get better and get healthy to prepare for the upcoming weeks,” said Goss.
Richardson agreed, adding it would be a good opportunity to get some players back into the game from injuries.
“We have some key kids out we want to get back,” he said, pointing out sophomore Nick Matich has missed most of the season due to an injury. “We will need them for the last two games and the playoffs.”
Clarkston will also find out on Friday who will face in Week 8 for the OAA Red/OAA White Crossover game before they head against rivals Lake Orion in Week 9 and the last game of the regular season.
“It could be anyone,” said Miller on the crossover match-up. “It could be Southfield or Oxford and Farmington plays a role in this whole thing as well.”
Richardson added, either way it would be a good team.
“The White division might be better than the Red division this year,” he noticed.
Goss added the leadership and focus will help with the last three games of the regular season.
“Our strengths are we have a really good leadership,” he said, “we are really focused. Our coaches are doing a really great job keeping us focused, keeping us looking at the big picture and getting better every week.”
The Wolves sealed the deal against Rochester at the end of the first half with a trick play. Baenziger throw the ball to Mike Schwartz. He lateraled it to Goss who ran 53 yards for the touchdown.
Baenziger was 7-for-12 passing for 136 yards against Rochester. The leading rushers were Goss carried the ball 22 times for 111 yards and senior runningback Evan Montgomery carried the ball eight times for 62 yards.
Receiving, Goss had two catches of 30 yards and Matt Dellinger had two catches of 38 yards.
Nathan Yeloushan led the defensive line with four tackles, two tackle assists and one tackle for lost yardage. Senior Alex Barta completed all four of his PATs in the game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Royal Oak High School located at 1500 Lexington Blvd.