By DOUG DONNELLY

OTTAWA LAKE – Whiteford will open at home Friday night against a Blissfield team hoping to get its season off to a great start in the wake of a daunting schedule.

The Bobcats, who have appeared in two consecutive state championship games and have a 27-1 record over the past two seasons, will put a 23-game regular season winning streak on the line with six returning starters on offense and two on defense.

Third-year head coach Todd Thieken said the Bobcats want to be physical every time out.

“The thing I am looking for right away in game one is that we continue the tradition we have set here as being a physical team,” Thieken said. “I am hoping as the early part of the season goes, our new nine starters on defense improve quickly and adapt to varsity football.”

With so many new faces in the starting lineup, Thieken said this is where it pays off for the Bobcat underclassmen to have gone through 10 extra weeks of practice over the last two years as Whiteford has made deep playoff runs.

“That will help our young kids be ready to play,” Thieken said. “We take each season as new and are looking towards our goals for 2024 and not focusing on the past.  However, the tradition and expectations for our program are there and they know that.”

Tre Eitniear started all 14 games at quarterback last season as a freshman for the Bobcats.

He became the first Bobcat freshman to throw for 1,000 yards when he passed for 1,075 yards and 16 touchdowns. He completed 49 of 97 passes. In the season opener against Blissfield, he threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns – the most yards ever for a Whiteford quarterback making their starting debut.

Thieken said Eitniear has stepped up as a leader and is one of the captains this season.

In front of him, the Bobcats have returning center Chase Lee and tackles Connor Bott and Nolan Walker. Mason DeBarr is returning as a starting tight end.

New faces to watch include Brek Ruddy, the top returning rusher from last year’s 13-1 team. Ruddy rushed for 178 yards on 23 carries last season. He is one of the guys Eitniear will look to hand the ball off to, but the list of available backs is, as usual, long for Whiteford.

The defense will have a bigger makeover. DeBarr is the top returning defender for the Bobcats. He made 88 tackles a year ago, four sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He recovered two fumbles, returning one for a touchdown, and was an All-Region choice by the Michigan High School Coaches Association.

Blissfield has stars of its own in running back Kassidy Lenz and linebacker Kip Fisher.

Lenz rushed for more than 1,400 yards last year, including 152 against Whiteford. Thieken said stopping Lenz will be a key to the game.

“Even as good as we were on defense last year, he had a big game against us, and we need to make sure we do what we can to limit his big plays,” the coach said.

Fisher is one of the top linebackers in the LCAA.

The Royals are expected to have a slightly different look as Ryan Love returns as head coach after stepping away five seasons ago. He’s back with his Wing T offense.

Thieken said the Bobcats are prepared.

“As a young team, we are first looking to improve each week,” he said. “I see us getting better in practice each day and I am hoping that it shows up on the field on Friday night.  I am hoping we can go into games prepared in a way that we play mistake free football.”

PRE-GAME NOTES:

LAST MEETING

Whiteford trailed field 21-20 with under a minute to play in the game when senior Ryin Ruddy (Hillsdale College) broke off a 74-yard touchdown run to bring the Bobcats back. The Bobcats had 458 yards of total offense, compared to 231 for Blissfield, but the Royals did have 22 first downs and was led by 152-yards rushing by Kassidy Lenz.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Whiteford and Blissfield have been facing one another since the early 1970s when the two teams were both members of the Michigan-Ohio Border Conference. The Royals once held a big lead in the head-to-head matchups, but since the Royals won five straight meetings between 2007 and 2011, the Bobcats are 10-1 against Blissfield.

WHITEFORD HEAD COACH TODD THIEKEN

Thieken is 18-0 in regular season games in his two seasons as head coach of the Bobcats and 27-1 overall. The Evergreen, Ohio, graduate is back for a third season as the Bobcat head coach.

BLISSFIELD COACH RYAN LOVE

Love coached the Royals four seasons from 2015-2018 before stepping down to become head coach at Morenci. He returned two seasons ago to the Royals staff and Thursday will return to the sidelines as head coach of the Royals.

WHITEFORD AT HOME

The Bobcats haven’t lost at home since the 2020 playoffs and not at home in the regular season since 2019. Blissfield’s last win at Whiteford was in 2010 (39-6).

AUGUST EQUALS WINS

Since 2010, Whiteford is 16-1 in the month of August. The Bobcats only loss during that streak was a 33-14 setback to the hands of Blissfield in 2019.

Whiteford’s last home field loss in August was Aug. 24, 2007 (Pittsford).