By DOUG DONNELLY

For The Monroe News

OTTAWA LAKE – The Iott family has been producing football players at Whiteford since the school was carved out of farm fields in the 1950s.

The latest pair of Iotts to walk through the woods onto the Bobcat football field is twins Jake and Jack Iott. The duo has been attending Whiteford football games for as far back as they can remember and have been part of the community’s football program since the second grade.

“I don’t think we’ve ever missed a home game,” said Jack, who, like his brother, has been in the Bobcat starting lineup since his freshman season.

The twins’ roots run deep in Whiteford. Their father, John Iott, was an All-State football player who played in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star game. Their uncle, grandfather and numerous cousins all took turns wearing the Whiteford uniform over the years.

Both are well aware of the success the extended family has had playing at Whiteford.

“My dad played in the woods,” Jack said. “We talk about football a lot. He loves to come watch us play.”

“I beat one of my dad’s records last year,” Jake said. “That was cool to go home and tell him that.”

Jake is a running back and linebacker who set the school record for tackles in a season last year with more than 200 stops and has been a fixture at middle linebacker since his freshman season. Jack is a starting offensive lineman who this year took over the “Super Tackle” position for the Bobcats, which is the key spot on the line in the Whiteford offense that has been so successful over the past decade.

Both were key cogs on last season’s state championship team. The Bobcats have won 16 straight games heading into Friday’s clash of unbeatens against Toledo’s Ottawa Hills, one of the top small-school teams in the state.

Bobcat head coach Todd Thieken said the Iotts are great representatives of the football program at Whiteford.

“First and foremost, it comes from mom and dad,” Thieken said. “They’ve raised those boys right. When they are not here or in school, they are working hard. They’ve probably been doing that since they were seven or eight years old. They understand what hard work is.

“They are just great kids. You know if you tell them to go in the weight room and do 10 of this, they’re going to do 10. They aren’t going to do nine.”

The boys work at the family business, which includes farming and installing drain tiles in farm fields.

Jake said some days are quite a workout.

“It’s physical labor,” he said. “It’s always like a work out. There is equipment involved too, but we are always working with a shovel or bailing hay.”

Jack agreed.

“There are hard days, but you have to have the mindset that you are going to push through it,” he said. “It’s a lot like being out here on the football field. Sometimes you have to push through.”

The boys started in flag football through the community program and progressed into tackle football in the sixth grade. That was about the same time Whiteford made its first trip to the state championship game in 2016. The Bobcats returned to the finals the following year and won the state title. The Iotts were in the crowd watching.

“We were there,” Jake said. “That was cool watching them – Logan Murphy and Thomas Eitniear and those guys. I think that really motivated our senior class to get there too.”

Last season, Jack was injured early, tearing his shoulder labrum. He returned late in the season and was on the field for the Bobcats playoff run.

“It was the hardest thing not being out there for games,” he said. “I was glad I was able to come back. It’s fine now. I might have to have surgery after the season, I’m not sure yet. For the most part I’m good to go and playing through it.”

Sports don’t just run deep on the Iott side of the family. Their mom, Patty, is a Salenbien from Dundee who played sports in high school as well.

“She played basketball and ran track,” Jack said. “Our younger sister plays volleyball. We’ve always been brought up being involved in sports and learning about hard work and dedication.”

Jake and Jack are both captains this season. Jack is more vocal than Jake, Thieken said, but both are leaders in their own way. Jack handles making the calls at the line of scrimmage for the offensive line while Jake is the defensive guru on the field.

“He knows our offense and defense inside and out,” Thieken said. “When we watch film, those two are dialed in. As a freshman, he (Jake) was running our defense. I’d tell them what the other team was doing, he’d see it right away.” The Bobcats face a stiff test Friday in Ottawa Hills.

“Everybody has been dialed in and working hard to get ready for the game,” Jack said. “They are going to be a good team. They have athletes. If we play our game, I think we will be alright.”