By DOUG DONNELLY

Whiteford and Summerfield both have long traditions of highly-successful football programs.

The Bobcats are the defending Division 8 state champions and have made 18 appearances in the state playoffs since the first time they qualified in 1987.

Summerfield was the dominant team in the Tri-County Conference in the 1980s, winning five league championships. Since they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 2008, they have become a regular in the playoff hunt, including qualifying in each of the past four years.

With all of that success, its no wonder when the two southwestern Monroe County schools get together, some of the all-time performances by both teams takes place.

Whiteford holds as 35-25 lead in the 60 games played between the schools who were River Raisin Conference foes in the 1960s and have been in the Tri-County Conference together since the early 1970s.

Here’s a look at some of the best individual performances ever during the rivalry:

Mike Luck, Whiteford: Whiteford intercepted six passes in a 30-0 1970 win over the Bulldogs and the All-Stater Luck was a big reason why, intercepting four passes.

Sylvester DuPree, Whiteford: The speedy DuPree returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown and went on to score three more TDs in Whiteford’s 40-16 win.

Jamie and Bruce LaRocca, Summerfield: The LaRocca brothers combined for 440 yards rushing while Jamie scored on TD runs of 73, 45 and 30 yards to lead Summerfield to the 40-0 1976 win.

Ron Edwards, Summerfield: Edwards was an unlikely hero in the 19-7 Summerfield win of 1983 and he did it with his foot. Edwards punted 11 times in the game, averaging more than 39 yards a punt to keep the Bobcats in poor field position.

Duane Perry, Summerfield: Perry led the Bulldogs to a 35-6 win with 225 yards rushing on just 10 carries.

Tim LaRocca, Summerfield: The Bulldogs trailed the Bobcats 13-6 in the final seconds of the game, but LaRocca led Summerfield on a game-winning drive, climaxed by a two-point conversion with 13 seconds to go to lift the Bulldogs to the win.

A.J. Prebula, Summerfield: Prebula missed the first two games of the season, but returned to the field in Week 3 by running for 299 yards in a 21-18 Bulldog win in 1992.

Charlie Butz, Whiteford: Butz did a little bit of everything for the Bobcats in a 28-12 win in 1994. He ran for a touchdown, passed for a touchdown, returned a fumble for a touchdown and intercepted a pass.

Brandon Ybarra, Whiteford: Ybarra opened the game with a 61-yard touchdown reception on the first play from scrimmage, then became the Bobcat quarterback when Joe Gust went down with an injury. Ybarra would run for three scores in Whiteford’s 38-15 2002 win.

Nick Wohlfarth, Whiteford: In one of the greatest performances of any Whiteford player ever, Wohlfarth rushed for 382 yards and seven touchdowns in a 61-20 Bobcat win.

Tyler Glass, Summerfield: Few games in TCC history had more offense than this one. Glass passed for more than 400 yards and five touchdowns for Summerfield, but the Bobcats pulled out the 44-42 win in 2006.

Eric Cogan, Summerfield: Cogan returned the game’s opening kick for a touchdown and caught another TD as Summerfield came back from a 13-12 deficit in the game’s final minutes to win 18-13.

Logan Murphy, Whiteford (pictured) Murphy put his mark on the rivalry by rushing for 212 yards on just seven carries in Whiteford’s 54-6 regular season win in 2017. Murphy scored on runs of 73, 50 and 66 yards in the first half as Whiteford built a 42-6 lead.