Dragons lose heartbreaker to Wolves. Now if teams meet in the postseason it's at Clarkston

Written Saturday October 13th, at 1:10 AM

Tonight was a humbling night if you were a Dragons fan. If you were a Wolves fan your pretty happy about the result.

In what was billed as the top two teams in the state, lived up to the hype but not in the Dragons way though and nightmares of Walled Lake Central stepped in, in the Dragons 21-14 loss to Clarkston on Friday night.

The Dragons (7-1, 6-1 Red) started out good as running back Jacob Miller took in a seven yard touchdown score to give Orion the 7-0 lead.

The Wolves (8-0, 7-0 Red) then answered as Ian Erickson took the kickoff to the Dragons 40 yard line but had to settle for a Shane Hines 38 yard field goal making it 7-3.

Lake Orion then answered with Dominic Giovinnazzo 35 yard touchdown run making it 14-3 Dragons.

Clarkston however answered yet again on the kickoff, taking the ball to the Dragons 30 yard line. From then on Erickson and quarterback Caine Wallington ran the ball deep into Lake Orion territory and eventually Erickson found the end zone on a five yard touchdown run making it 14-10 Dragons.

The second half however was all Clarkston.

The Wolves used its running attack, eating up clock, very similar to what Walled Lake Central did to the Dragons last season in the playoffs leading to Shane Hines 37 yard field goal making it 14-13 Dragons.

Lake Orion would get yet another crack but Jeremy King missed a 45 yard field goal setting up what would be the winning drive for Clarkston.

The Wolves marched down the field on 21 plays and 10 minutes, one which included on a first down and 37 from the Clarkston 48 yard line, quarterback DJ Zezula found wide receiver Alex Dicea on the Wolves only completed pass to the Dragons 15 yard line. Erickson would take the ball to the end zone with 14.3 seconds left in the game and they would connect on a two point conversion making it 21-14 Wolves.

Lake Orion had one last chance but they couldn't get the ball past the 50 yard line and saw Clarkston win for the first time in the regular season at Lake Orion since 1999. The last time was in the playoffs in 2006.

If these two teams would meet in the playoffs, the game would be at Clarkston and it’s a very good possibility it could happen.

Hope however is not all lost for the Dragons. Tonight was a humbling experience but here are two reasons not to panic.

1. Lake Orion in 2010 lost week eight to Harrison 28-6 eventually ended up winning the state championship that season.

2. Lake Orion in 2007 lost to Clarkston 21-19 at Clarkston however got the Wolves back 40-37 in Clarkston in the playoffs.

3. Maybe its best not to go 9-0, remember in 2006, the Dragons were 9-0, they beat the Wolves 32-8 only to lose 34-14 two weeks later at Lake Orion in the playoffs. Clarkston fans be wary of that stat right here.

Even though tonight the Dragons lost means that Lake Orion will face the Farmington Falcons in week nine at Farmington at 7 pm on Friday, that’s key because the Dragons will be on a normal schedule. The Falcons were pounded on their home field 48-13 by the Farmington Hills Harrison Hawks and come in at 6-2 with a 5-2 record in the White. Also this game is Farmington's Homecoming game as well.

Clarkston meanwhile has a more difficult task ahead of them when they travel to Oak Park (7-1, 6-1 White) for a Friday game at 6 pm in Knight Valley.