By DOUG DONNELLY
OTTAWA LAKE – Whiteford lost the first two games of its season and needed a fourth quarter comeback in Week 6 to put themselves in position to win a league championship.
Jonesville lost four games during the middle of its season, but have bounced back with five straight wins and won a district title Friday night.
The Bobcats (9-2) and Comets took similar paths to Friday’s regional championship. Both teams had to overcome some adversity, some injuries, and perhaps some doubters, but are still playing in mid-November.
“A lot of people doubted this group,” Whiteford coach Todd Thieken said. With all the success this program has had, to win our first divisional title in Division 7 is pretty special.”
Jonesville coach Frank Keller says his Comets are coming together at the right time.
“We went through a brutal stretch in the middle of the season,” Keller said. “Plus, we had some injuries that we had to work through. Our guys came through it and have played well the last few weeks”
Jonesville brings a 7-4 record to Whiteford to play on the Bobcat home field. They also bring a running back who is up around 6,000 career yards. and has enjoyed a tremendous career and senior season.
“He’s had a great career,” Keller said. “He’s a really good back. He can break one if he gets out in the open, and he can also get you two or three tough yards if you need it.”
Milks has rushed 289 times for 2,302 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. The next closest back on the Comets has 215 yards.
Jonesville’s quarterback, Carson Young, has passed for 856 yards this season. A high percentage of his completions have gone for six points – 12 out of 48.
The Comets can score points. Against Leslie, they scored 64 points. They scored 58 against Grass Lake and beat Union City 52-30 in the district championship game.
Jonesville averages about 34.9 points per game and gives up 29.4 points per game. Keller said the defense will be the key to Friday night
“Our defense has to be disciplined against their wing offense,” Keller said. “They are very well-coached and talented. They do a lot of misdirection type of things that our defense has to be ready for.”
The Bobcats and Comets have one thing in common – both teams lost to a D7 powerhouse in the season, but came back to beat them in the playoffs.
Jonesville lost to Cascades Conference champion Hanover-Horton by three touchdowns, but flipped the script in the playoffs, winning 36-22.
Whiteford has won nine straight games, including Friday 38–34 win over Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, who was the No. 1 seed in all of Division 7 heading into the playoffs and beat Whiteford 38-27 to start the season.
The Bobcats rely on three seniors who are having outstanding seasons in quarterback Tre Eitniear, running back Brek Ruddy, and defensive end Caden Stewart. But Whiteford also has developed some depth in the backfield with runners like Elijah Vance and Hunter Massingill and the offensive line gets better each week.
At times, the Bobcat defense has been lights out.
Stewart is the leader of the defense from his defensive end spot, but linebackers like Ruddy and Andy Trejo and defensive end Ryan Thomas have all had big moments this season.
Ruddy comes into Friday’s game one touchdown away from setting the all-time Monroe County Region single-season touchdown record and has a host of Whiteford records on his season résumé. Eitniear has spread the ball around to nine different receivers this season. On Friday, he hit Maddox Diesing five times. He came into the game with just two receptions all season.
The winner of the Whiteford-Jonesville contest will reach the Divsion 7 semifinals and play the winner of North Musekgon (10-1) and Ravenna (9-2). That game is being played at 1 p.m. Saturday at North Muskegon. North Musekgon was the No. 5 team in Division coming into the playoffs.
Thieken is excited that the Bobcats get to be home after last week’s road victory.
“Our practice field was pretty beat up,” he said. “We had moved out to our varsity field for practice last week because we were playing on the road anyway. This week we’ll have to find somewhere else to practice so we can save that field for Friday night.”
