Chippewa Valley outlasts Clarkston in division one instant classic

DETROIT, Michigan- With 23 second remaining Matt Miller caught a pass from Jake Jensen to bring Clarkston within a point of Chippewa Valley. Clarkston would attempt a two-point conversion to win, but the Wolves would fail.

“We’ve been aggressive forever and that’s the way we play football,” Clarkston head coach Kurt Richardson said. “It didn’t work, but I wouldn’t change the call.”

The play call was similar to the play the Philadelphia Eagles ran in the Super Bowl where the play looks like a reverse, but the running back throws a pass to the quarterback.

“I think it was a great call by coach Richardson,” Chippewa Valley head coach Scott Merchant said. “They were the champs and they wanted to be the champs again.”

The defense stood tall for Chippewa Valley on the two-point conversion after allowing Clarkston to drive down the field and score the touchdown.

“I saw a man coming from the right side, so I stayed home,” David Ellis said. “Our defense made the play of the season.”

While the conversion attempt was the deciding factor in the game, Chippewa Valley seized momentum going into halftime.

Following a score 3-yard run by Jacob Honstetter for Clarkston to cut the Big Red lead to seven, David Ellis made the second biggest play of the game.

“I thought to just make something happen,” Ellis said. “I saw a hole to the left and I break it and I just ran as fast as I could.”

The kick return was a key factor before halftime to flip the momentum for Chippewa Valley as they led 24-10 at halftime.

“We always say that scores in the last minute are huge,” Merchant said. “We felt we played pretty well in that first half.”

Ellis finished the game with 178 total yards and the return touchdown.

Along with Ellis having a big game, senior quarterback Tommy Schuster was literally perfect as he completed all 13 of his pass attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

“I don’t know how he (Schuster) doesn’t have any college offers,” Merchant said. “Someone is going to get a great quarterback.”

Schuster's day set a state finals record for completion percentage. The previous record was held by Alex Niznak of Ithaca when he posted 84.6% in 2010.

The duo of Ellis and Schuster helped Chippewa Valley captured their second title in school history.