Sports

On a chilly Saturday afternoon in “The Woods” of Whiteford High School, the Whiteford Bobcats continued their perfect varsity football season by downing the Mountaineers of Clarkston Everest 60-20, adding another regional title trophy to their case in the process. The Bobcats now advance to a neutral site – Howell High School – where they will take on Mendon High School at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18. They are just one win from returning to Ford Field where they finished as Division 8 runners up in 2016 For Brad Heineman’s story and photos, please see the Nov. 15, 2017, edition of The Advance. 

The Blissfield Royals ended their regular football season with a 5-4 record, but it was enough to get them into the playoffs in Division 6.

They mowed down Napoleon first – top seed in their district – then Columbia Central for their district’s championship.

However, when they traveled to Madison Heights Bishop Foley on a bitterly cold Friday to face the Cougars of Warren Michigan Collegiate for the regional title, their season came to an end as the Cougars won 32-6 to advance to the Division 6 semifinals.

For Brad Heineman’s complete story, please see the Nov. 15, 2017, edition of The Advance.

The Blissfield Royals won its first district championship in football since its Cinderella football year of 2007 that took the Royals of that era all the way to Ford Field where they lost in the state finals.

The Royals went back to Columbia Central, where they had defeated the Golden Eagles earlier in the year, and did it again Friday night with a 27-17 victory to claim their district’s title in the Division 6 of the MHSAA state football tournament. The team was presented with the trophy at Columbia Central and hoisted it high after singing the school fight song joined by student fans on the football field.

Blissfield will play for the regional title next weekend.

For the complete story, please see the Nov. 8, 2017, edition of The Advance.

The Bobcats of Whiteford High School took it to the visiting Summerfield Bulldogs Friday winning the district championship in Division 8 of the MHSAA football playoffs 36-20.

The Bobcats, runners up in Division 8 football last year, will play for the regional crown next weekend.

After several Fridays of cleanly executed football with few mistakes, the Blissfield Royals came into their homecoming bout as a favorite over Hillsdale. Even with two key players – Josh Eisenmann and Nathan Chappuies – sitting out with injuries, buzz was the Royal team had the weapons to wage a successful battle.

“I feel like we have individuals that can step up in the absence of those two,” said Coach Ryan Love. “Our game change was changed slightly, however a few missed opportunities proves to be costly.”

Very costly, in fact, resulting in a 28-20 Royals loss to the Hornets and putting the home team in a must-win situation for the last two games of the regular season if they are to earn a playoff berth.

The game started off tight in scoring, but fraught with interceptions and fumbles from the opening plays plaguing both teams on a field damp from a steamy day of rain. And Blissfield was further hampered by a spate of penalties as it tried to pass its way to a win with quarterback Gavin Ganun launching 37 passes and connecting on 16 of them for 221 yards.

For a complete rundown of the game as well as a photos from homecoming, please pick up the Oct. 11, 2017, edition of The ADVANCE.

 

While Blissfield battled for a comeback in the final quarter, two third-quarter mistakes which had put the Hornets in the Royal red zone twice and led to two touchdowns and extra points was just too much to overcome.

 

By BRAD HEINEMAN

OTTAWA LAKE — Perhaps the most entertaining game of the Whiteford Bobcats varsity football season thus far, was saved for its annual homecoming game, Friday night, Oct. 6, 2017, in Ottawa Lake against the visiting 3-3 Sand Creek Aggies.
For the first time this fall football season, the Bobcats trailed in a contest, falling behind early in the game, 7-0, as the Aggies turned a couple of uncharacteristic first quarter Whiteford turnovers into points.
But even by facing their first deficit of the year, the Bobcats remained a poised and controlled football team.
Whiteford eventually found the end zone two times in a row following the Sand Creek score and the Aggies responded with another answer to tie the game in the second quarter, 14-14. But the Bobcats still had plenty of juice left in them — on both offense and defense — as Whiteford went on to delight its packed homecoming crowd with a big scoring second and third quarter and a 53-14 victory over the Aggies.

For a complete account and photo of the game, please see the Oct. 11, 2017, edition of The Advance. Game and homecoming photos can be found on our Galleries.

The Madison men’s basketball team battled to the regional final buzzer, but it was a three-point buzzer-beating basket by SMCC that finished their season, 57-54, despite the fact that the Trojans had been down by 16 points in the third quarter. They tied the game with six seconds left in the regional contest before the Falcons sank the big basket.

The Blissfield women’s basketball team bade the 2016-17 season farewell in Tuesday night’s state quarterfinal game to Detroit Edison.

The final score in the Royals’ season was 58-45.

For Brad Heineman’s story, please see the March 22 edition of The Advance.

The Madison Trojans secured the district men’s basketball title Friday night in a 45-40 win over Addison at Sand Creek High School.

Madison will move on to the first round of regional play against Ann Arbor Greenhills at 8 p.m. Monday in Hudson.

Blissfield’s Lady Royals gave their fans quite a thrill battling Grass Lake – in double overtime – to a 56-49 regional crown in Madison.

The Royals advance to quarterfinals from here.

Coach Ryan Gilbert celebrated the win right after celebrating with this wife the arrival Wednesday of a new baby boy.