The Clarkston football team got three touchdown catches from senior Adam Briceland on their way to a decisive 44-17 win against Troy on Friday Sept. 17.
‘The O-line did a great job. (Quarterback Scott Leigh) had time in the pocket,? Briceland said.
Clarkston’s opening drive featured two fourth down conversions and culminated with a 25 yard touchdown strike from Leigh to Briceland. The celebration on the Wolves sideline was shortlived as Robert Salazar took the ensuing kick off 99 yards evening the score at 7-7.
‘That just takes all the momentum we built up right out of us,? Clarkston Coach Kurt Richardson said, ruminating on the fact this is the second time this year the Wolves have allowed a touchdown on a kick return.
Clarkston got a break on special teams when Troy mishandled a snap on fourth down allowing junior Kyle Cummings to tackle punter Stew Givens giving the Wolves the ball on the Colts 2 yard line. Kittle skidded around the edge and into the end zone for a 13-7 lead following the Troy turnover.
Clarkston pushed the lead to 21-7 on Leigh and Briceland’s second hook-up for a score with 7:06 left in the first half. Briceland caught the ball at the one and was able to lean his way into the endzone.
‘We obviously could not match up at the skill positions. (Leigh) tore us up and (Briceland) is a great receiver,? Troy Coach Gary Griffith said.
A bruising run from 14 yards out by Troy’s Ryan Kochanski, who ran for 146 yards in the game, made the score 21-14 going into half time. Troy was sniffing at the lead when Stew Givens? 44 yard field goal brought the score to 21-17 with 8 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
‘Troy played pretty well,? Richardson said, adding that with the way the Colts shut down the running game in the first half the passing game had saved Clarkston.
The Wolves got a 25 yard field goal from sophomore Ryan Breen and recovered the ball on the Troy 23 yard line after kicking off. Troy caught a bad break on the kick off. The ball landed no more than a foot from the sideline, the Troy receiver let the ball go only to see it bounce straight up into the air and die inches from the sideline where it waited for Clarkston senior Jake Williams to pounce on it.
The Wolves would not waste their good fortune as Kittle pounded it in from the 11 yard line making the score 31-17.
Late touchdowns on an 8 yard catch by Briceland and a 65 yard scamper by junior Nick Sorise pushed the lead to the final score of 44-17.
Richardson felt the Wolves could have played better but found solace in the way his running game came back in the second half. Kittle rushed for 29 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns and Scott Lyons rushed for 110 yards on 17 carries.
‘Scotty and Kittle are both excellent backs, we got to get the ball to both of them,? Richardson said.
Clarkston’s next game is Friday Sept. 24 at Troy Athens.