By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – Here we go.

The 2022 Whiteford football season opens tonight when the Bobcats host Blissfield in a non-league battle between two backyard rivals.

Both teams have a lot of returning players and a lot of promise for the 2022 season.

First-year Whiteford head coach Todd Thieken said knows the Royals will be fired up for the opener.

“The thing that jumped out to me (while watching Blissfield’s scrimmage) was their size,” Thieken said. “On both the offensive and defensive lines, they are big. The kids really get off the ball. They are sound defensively with two inside linebackers that really get to the ball.”

Blissfield will start a new quarterback, either Jack Dietrick or Brayden Fetzer, and has a new running back in transfer Kassidy Lenz. They have returning talent such as tackles Julius Brown and Evan Wolfe, receiver Ty Cantrell and Elliot Strahan. Kicker Aaron Stalker is a two-time all-league performer.

“We are Kicker-U,” Blissfield coach Ron Estes said. “We have some good kickers between Stalker and Dove Eitzen. They both have great legs and can really kick.”

Estes is in his 15th season coaching the Royals. He is 6-4 all-time coaching against Whiteford, and his 93 career coaching wins makes him the winningest active coach in Lenawee County.

Blissfield went 3-6 last season.

The Bobcats are coming off a 11-2 season and have most of its starting lineup back on both sides of the ball. Despite losing five talented seniors, Thieken said the Bobcats are confident.

“Our kids have a very workmanlike attitude,” Thieken said. “I think they are confident in what they are doing. That comes with experience and repetition.”

Some notes on the series between Whiteford and Blissfield:

• In 38 meetings, Whiteford and Blissfield are tied with 19 wins each.

• They have split the last two meetings – Blissfield won in 2019 33-14 and Whiteford won 52-21 in 2021.

• In the last 10 meetings, Whiteford holds an 8-2 advantage.

• At home, Whiteford is 8-9 all-time vs. Blissfield.

• Whiteford has won four straight matchups at home against Blissfield. The last time the Royals won at Whiteford was 2010.

• The most points ever scored by Whiteford against Blissfield was 52 points – which happened last season.

• The last shutout in this series was 1995 when the Royals beat the Bobcats 28-0. The last time Blissfield was shutout in the series was 1987 when Whiteford won 28-0.

GAME NOTES