Eriksen, Clarkston Finish 'Dream' Run
November 30, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
DETROIT — Ian Eriksen's senior season was slipping away.
And so was his lifelong dream.
Eriksen and his football-playing buddies in Clarkston talked about earning an MHSAA championship back when they were in elementary school and winning the Super Bowl of the Northern Youth Football League in Oakland County.
But after rushing for 2,167 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior, Eriksen came into his senior year with Achilles and ankle injuries, then underwent arthroscopic surgery for a partially torn meniscus in his right knee on Sept. 19.
Four Friday nights passed with Eriksen in street clothes, unsure of when — or if — he'd ever rejoin his teammates in pursuit of their shared dream.
"That was really tough, because I've never been injured that seriously," Eriksen said. "It could've been a lot worse. I tried to be positive. All you can do is be positive rather than mope over it."
One positive out of the situation may be that Eriksen was fresh enough by the end of the playoffs to take on a heavy workload and help carry the Wolves to their first MHSAA football title.
Eriksen ran 32 times for 237 yards and three touchdowns in Clarkston's 32-14 victory over perennial power Detroit Catholic Central in the MHSAA Division 1 championship game Saturday at Ford Field.
He also had a 30-yard catch to extend Clarkston's first touchdown drive, and a sack. In Clarkston's last two games, Eriksen ran 76 times for 592 yards and nine touchdowns.
"He gave us a lot of problems," said veteran Catholic Central coach Tom Mach, who has built a dynasty with the power-running game. "He was a very good running back. He would be a good running back in our program. We would've loved to have him. We had a lot of trouble tackling him. He got the extra yard and put in the extra effort.
“They kept the ball away from us, getting those first downs, getting those first downs, getting those first downs. That's frustrating on a team, especially when you do get the ball when you're a ball-control offense like us."
Bringing Clarkston its first MHSAA championship was the fulfillment of a dream for Eriksen and his teammates after the program reached three Semifinals and made the postseason 16 times under 27-year coach Kurt Richardson.
"In Little League, there's a Super Bowl," Eriksen said. "We won the Super Bowl together in 2006 when we were in fourth and fifth grade. The next thing we started talking about was winning a high school championship if we could do it. We knew we could."
Eriksen and some of the players who delivered that championship were in the stands at Troy Athens four years ago when Clarkston lost by two points in a Semifinal to Sterling Heights Stevenson.
"I remember when that happened," Eriksen said. "Everyone in the community was just so upset about that. Me and the other guys were like, 'That's not going to happen to us when we get there.'"
Clarkston made Catholic Central settle for a third straight runner-up finish by stealing a page from the Shamrocks' script.
Led by Eriksen and an outstanding offensive line, the Wolves ground out 288 yards on 45 carries. They had a 27:58 to 20:02 advantage in time of possession.
"The offensive line doesn't get enough credit," Richardson said. "They deserve it for this one."
After a punt and interception ended Clarkston's first two drives, the Wolves scored touchdowns on their next five possessions.
Both teams had promising drives end with interceptions deep in the opponent's territory before Clarkston broke through for the game's first score with 13 seconds left in the first half.
Converting three times on third down and once on fourth, Clarkston moved 91 yards in 17 plays, taking 6:36 off the clock, before D.J. Zezula hit Shane Holler with a 15-yard touchdown pass on a post route. The extra point failed.
The key play on the drive was a 30-yard pass to Eriksen on third-and-12 from Clarkston's 15-yard line.
"We knew we had to score, because we got the ball to start the second half," Zezula said. "It was 0-0 and we knew we had to get up on CC. They brought in an extra (defensive back). The play-action with Ian helps me out a lot with time and the O-line helps me a lot with time. We knew the play-action would work."
Catholic Central's best drive of the first half came following the opening kickoff. The Shamrocks marched to the Clarkston 24 before Tim Cason intercepted a pass, only the second pick thrown by Catholic Central all season.
Jack Van Acker made two big plays to keep Clarkston out of the end zone on the Wolves' second possession. First, he made a touchdown-saving tackle on a 35-yard run by Eriksen to the Shamrocks' 10-yard line. Then, two plays later, he picked off a pass in the end zone after Clarkston moved to the 6.
A 63-yard punt by Zach Bock pinned Clarkston at its own 9-yard line with 6:49 left in the second quarter before the Wolves drove for the only touchdown of the first half. Clarkston's average starting field position on three first-half possessions was its own 10.
Armed with a lead and momentum, Clarkston took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 80 yards in eight plays, taking a 12-0 lead on a 37-yard run by Eriksen with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
The lead reached 18-0 on a 1-yard run by Eriksen with 3:59 left in the third.
Catholic Central got on the board when Dylan Roney scored on a 2-yard run with 45 seconds left in the third quarter, cutting Clarkston's lead to 18-7.
The Wolves responded with a seven-play, 71-yard drive that ended on a 47-yard pass from Zezula to Caine Watlington with 8:35 left in the game.
The Shamrocks scored again on a 48-yard pass from Sean Birney to Alexander Bock with 5:46 left, but Clarkston again had an answer, with Eriksen scoring on a 12-yard run to cap the scoring with 4:06 left.
Zezula was 10 for 15 for 154 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Birney was 13 for 23 for 166 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Clarkston won its final 13 games after a season-opening loss to Rochester Adams, a loss the Wolves avenged in the playoffs.
"A lot of these kids have been playing together since fifth grade," Richardson said. "They've played Chiefs together, so they've come up through the junior ranks. We all felt this could be a special season. We had some issues at the start. We talked to the kids at the time about turning a negative into a positive. You're going to get slapped in the face in life. We got slapped in the face in the first game. They learned from it. It was a huge coming-together point for us as a team."
Catholic Central (11-3) became the third team to finish runner-up three straight years. Utica Eisenhower was the Division 1 runner-up from 1999-2001 and Crystal Falls Forest Park was the Division 8 runner-up from 2004-06.
The Shamrocks' 2012 runner-up team was led defensively by sophomore middle linebacker David Widzinski, who had a game-high 15 tackles. Less than two weeks later, he died in his sleep.
Tributes to Widzinski were visible at Ford Field. Catholic Central's uniforms had a patch with his No. 33 inside a shamrock. In the student section, some students wore white and formed a 33 within a field of blue shirts worn by the others. Widzinski's jersey hung on the wall on the Catholic Central sideline.
"We brought up David a lot," Mach said. "He was a force behind our team all year long. Every day after practice, we would say a prayer for him and the people in our community who are suffering. It was a real learning experience for our kids to put something bigger than themselves in place of winning and losing."
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston players trade high fives with fans as they march off the Ford Field turf with their first MHSAA championship trophy. (Middle) Clarkston running back Ian Eriksen runs through the reaching arms of Detroit Catholic Central defenders Saturday. (Click to see more from Terry McNamara Photography.)
Marckel Supplies Marketing Magic to Hunter's Heisman-Winning Campaign
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
July 29, 2025
When he was hired at the University of Toledo in 2016 as assistant director of creative services, Derek Marckel thought he had found his dream job only a few months after graduating from college.
Then he became Colorado University’s graphic designer for football in 2019 and thought he had finally landed the job he’s always wanted.
After stops at the Michigan State University to work with former football coach Mel Tucker, and University of Southern California to work with Lincoln Riley, Marckel, 32, is back in Colorado and certain he’s living the dream.
“This was the stuff I thought about doing when I was a kid,” said Marckel, who graduated from Ottawa Lake Whiteford High School in 2011. “I used to sit and draw pictures of all of my favorite University of Toledo football players, and then I’d take them and give them to the players or have them sign them. This is definitely what I’ve dreamed of doing someday.”
Last winter, Marckel was in New York City when his favorite subject – Colorado football player Travis Hunter – won the Heisman Trophy. It was a surreal moment for Marckel, who led a team of creative content makers who spent months last fall promoting Hunter for the biggest prize in all of college football.
“Going into the season, we knew he was going to have a pretty good chance,” Marckel said. “Once the games started playing out, we knew he had a legitimate shot.”
As senior art director at Colorado, Marckel led the Hunter-for-Heisman campaign. He was on the sidelines of every game, home and away, documenting Hunter and the rest of the Buffaloes. He designed billboards that were strategically placed around Denver and one in Times Square in New York City. Marckel’s team met weekly to plan a regular dose of social media posts and content promoting Hunter’s candidacy.
Heisman Trophy candidates emerge based on their on-field performances. But, behind the scenes, winning the trophy has long taken some pushing by colleges and universities.
“There’s a lot that goes into a campaign,” Marckel said. “You have to work with sponsors and donors who helped fund all of that. It’s a lengthy operation.”
As the season drew to a close, Colorado published a packet of information that Marckel designed and sent it to Heisman Trophy voters and the media. ESPN showcased his work.
“Almost everything we were doing was going viral,” Marckel said.
When it became clear Hunter was going to be a finalist for the award, Marckel was called upon to document the entire process. He and a member of his team went to New York City two days ahead of Hunter to be prepared when he landed in the city. Next were Heisman Trophy promotional appearances, photoshoots and the Heisman ceremony itself, and Marckel was there for all of it.
“It was Travis from sun-up to sun-down,” Marckel said. “We’d have little breaks during the day. I designed the billboard for him in Times Square. We had a photo shoot there.”
Helpfully, Hunter was a wonderful participant.
“We put a lot of work into it,” Marckel said. “Obviously it was his award, and he earned it, but it was very rewarding to us, too, to see our hard work pay off. I’ve been around thousands of athletes, and he’s probably my favorite one. He doesn’t necessarily love doing all of the media stuff, but he was comfortable around us.”
Marckel was born in Toledo but grew up in southeast Michigan. He was football team captain for the Bobcats as a senior and began his interest in design, art and photography during his time at Whiteford.
“I knew from a young age that I wanted to work professionally in sports,” Marckel said. “During my time at Whiteford, I spent a lot of my high school career around the football program. I was lucky to have my first two years of varsity with Coach (Jack) Luettke and my senior year with Coach (Matt) Garno, who had a background in graphic design. This ended up being a great foundation for me to combine my passion for football and graphic design as I was heading into the real world.”
Marckel graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in technology & visual communication technology. He landed an internship with the University of Toledo where he started designing team schedule posters, pocket schedules and souvenir tickets. That’s when social media started revolutionizing the industry, especially college football.
“Social media was kind of secondary to everything else when I started there,” he said. “It started to shift. I got in at the perfect time. Things were really starting to pick up. That’s when I knew sports was going to be what I wanted to do.”
After getting a full-time job at Toledo, his work caught the eye of someone at Colorado, and Marckel went west to become a graphic designer with the Buffaloes. When Tucker left Colorado for Michigan State, Marckel followed him to East Lansing.
At first, he missed Colorado.
“Even on the drive to East Lansing, I was thinking, ‘Why am I leaving Colorado?’” Marckel said.
He stayed two years, then landed the role as director of creative media at USC, working sun-up to sun-down in Los Angeles. When the opportunity came to return to Boulder, he jumped at it, becoming senior art director.
The Buffaloes went 1-11 his first season back at Colorado. The entire football coaching staff was let go.
That’s when Marckel’s world took another big turn.
“The rumors started flying about Coach Prime,” Marckel said, referring to Deion Sanders. “There are always these theoretical situations about who the coach is going to be. We found out about 8 p.m. that it was Coach Prime. We had to be on the tarmac at 1:30 a.m. I don’t get starstruck anymore just because of what I’ve been able to do and who I’ve been able to be around, but as soon as he stepped off the plane, I realized I was getting myself into something huge.”
Pro football hall of famers regularly makes stops at Colorado practices. Warren Sapp joined the Colorado staff. Terrell Owens stops by regularly. A steady wave of Sanders’ former teammates from the Dallas Cowboys attended practices as well.
Marckel documents it all, through his camera – a skill he’s honed along the way.
“When I started at Toledo, I would shoot all of those games, but I wasn’t a great photographer,” he said. “As time has gone on, it’s become such an emphasis. I’ve really had to refine everything I do to become the best at it.”
Initially he had to win the trust of Sanders, who brought some of his own content creators with him to Colorado.
“It took a little while to get us into a groove,” Marckel said. “Now we work side by side every day. It’s a smooth operation now. We bounce ideas off of each other.”
Day to day, Marckel works on social media, marketing, photoshoots of recruits and documents workouts and practices for Colorado social media channels.
He works with the football team exclusively, sometimes long hours during the season.
“You get kind of get burned out by end-of-season, but it's worth it,” Marckel said. “You are on the field every day with Heisman Trophy winners, hall of famers and first-round picks. It’s a cool job when you step back and look at it. This is most fun I’ve had working in college football in 10 years.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Whiteford's Derek Marckel takes the field as a senior in 2010. At right, Marckel poses for a photo this year in front of the Times Square display he designed to promote Colorado's Travis Hunter. (Middle) Marckel stands for a photo with Hunter during the Heisman Trophy ceremony. (Photos courtesy of Derek Marckel.)