Round 2 playoff previews for Bedford, Carlson, Ida, Jefferson, SMCC
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Two Monroe County Region football teams will play each other in the state playoffs again this week.
Jefferson ended Flat Rock’s season in a Division 5 game on Oct. 31.
Bedford will travel to Gibraltar Carlson for a Division 2 contest on Friday, Nov. 7.
It will be the last time this season that Region teams battle on the gridiron.
The Region’s other three playoff survivors play in different divisions – Jefferson (Division 2), Ida (Division 6) and St. Mary Catholic Central (Division 7).
Ida is competing in Division 6.
All of the games have been scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.
A look at all four games follows.
Bedford (5-5) at Gibraltar Carlson (10-0)
Division: 2.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
All-time series: Bedford leads the series 3-2.
Last meeting: Carlson won 42-21 in the opening round of the playoffs last y ear..
Carlson playoff history: Qualified in each of the past nine seasons and 18 times overall. Playoff record is 9-17.
Bedford playoff history: Has qualified in back-to-back seasons, giving the Mules 15 trips to the playoffs in school history with a record of 10-14.
Carlson statistical leaders: Izaiah Wright, 178 carries for 1,586 yards, 24 TDs; Trent Ison, 51-of-87 passing for 898 yards, 17 TDs, 58 carries for 483 yards, 8 TDs; Cam Carafelli, 7 catches for 202 yards, 1 TD; Avery Ortiz, 10 catches for 189 yards, 4 TDs; Marco DePaoli, 11 catches for 197 yards, 4 TDs; Cam Kalbfleisch, 64 tackles; Teegan Nagy, 41 tackles; Noah Borowski, 34 tackles; Jayden Allen, 31 tackles.
Bedford statistical leaders: Luke Whetstone, 42-of-70 passing, 408 yards, 3 touchdowns, 87 carries for 433 yards, 9 TDs; Damien Hart, 91 carries for 401 yards, 3 TDs; Braylen Gilsdorf, 57 carries for 266 yards, 1 TD; Jack Batey, 10 catches for 94 yards; Josh Parshall, 9 catches for 100 yards; Everett Wingate, 87 tackles, 5 tackles for loss; Trent Smithson, 68 tackles, 7 TFL; Jaxson Lestock, 60 tackles, 5 pass breakups, 3 interceptions.
Game notes: Before last year’s playoff battle, the last time the two schools had met was 1989. … Carl Shultz is the superintendent at Bedford and his wife Jessica Schultz is the principal at Carlson High School. … Bedford’s sophomore quarterback Luke Whetstone made his first varsity start in the playoffs last year against Carlson. He is coming off the best game of his career, running for 201 yards and 5 touchdowns against Allen Park. He had run for 4 TDs the entire season before that game. … Bedford and Carlson played each other in a scrimmage at Carlson before the season began.
Carlson coach Jason Gendron (fourth year, 39-6): “Bedford is a tough, battle-tested football team that plays hard and competes every snap. Their quarterback is a talented athlete capable of taking over a game. They’re well-coached and have good schemes on both sides of the ball, making them a challenging opponent. We need to control the controllables, continue to play with confidence, and lean on our senior leadership—guys who have been here before and know what it takes.”
Bedford coach John Phillips (sixth year, 27-20): “They are talented and well coached. They make few mistakes. They pivot really well. (We have to) come out and play mistake-free, physical football.”
Jefferson (9-1) as Summit Academy (8-2)
Division: 5.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
All-time series: This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Jefferson playoff history: Qualified 12 times and won a state championship in 1994. Playoff record 11-10.
Jefferson statistical leaders: Luke Beaudrie 78-of-116 passing for 935 yards, 11 touchdowns, 143 carries for 1,485 yards, 24 TDs, 36 tackles, 4 interceptions, 14 passed defended; Drake Jones 132 carries for 1,127 yards, 13 TDs; Grant Hakeos, 50 carries for 291 yards, 3 TDs, 77 tackles; Bret Gennoe, 20 catches for 202 yards, 5 TDs, 95 tackles; Trey Oldenburg, 14 catches for 204 yards, 1 TD.
Summit statistical leaders: Oween Sudduth 82-of-134 passing for 1,317 yards, 12 TDs, 15 carries for 105 yards, 1 TD; Everet Roberts 79 carries for 581 yards, 12 TDs, 47 tackles; Jacob Boykins 22 catches for 341 yards, 3 TDs; Antonio Boykins 20 catches for 291 yards, 3 TDs; Donovan Ewing, 55 tackles; Keyan Phillips 46 tackles.
Game notes: Luke Beaudrie needs just 15 yards to top 1,500 rushing yards and 65 to surpass 1,000 passing yards for the season and 6 points to go over 200 … Jefferson running back Drake Jones went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season last week … Summit has never played Jefferson, but lost to Flat Rock in district title games in both 2023 and 2022. … The last time Jefferson won a district title was 1999 when it eventually lost to Farmington Hills Harrison in the state semifinals.
Jefferson coach Rob Beaudrie (third year, 12-16): “They have size on the line and some very talented players. We need to control what we can control and play our game. We must win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, do what we do on offense and contain their playmakers on defense.”
Summit coach Matt Swain (eighth year 57-24): “What impresses me about Jefferson is their complexity within their blocking scheme and formation diversity. Keys to the game will be to win the trench war and contain number 2 (Luke Beaudrie).”
Ida (8-2) at Ecorse
Division: 6.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
All-time series: This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Ida playoff history: Making its sixth straight playoff appearance and 16th overall. Playoff record is 13-15.
Ecorse playoff history: In the playoffs for the 11th time overall and fifth time in the last six years. Reached the state semifinals in 2011.
Ida statistical leaders: Gavin Albring, 118 carries for 1,247 yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 catches for 304 yards, 4 TDs, 45 tackles, 4 interceptions; Dylan Jarrett, 61 carries for 338 yards, 10 TDs, 68 tackles; Owen Snyder, 17-of-28 passing for 338 yards, 6 TDs; Brayden Bydlowski, 42 tackles; AJ Sivil, 41 tackles.
Ecorse statistical leaders: Senior lineman Jahlel Dunson, senior lineman Cortney Powell, junior running back-linebacker Rishon Langford-Smith, sophomore athlete Jayden McMath, sophomore linebacker Malik Putman, freshman wide receiver-defensive back Rakari Crocker, freshman linebacker Jaylen Banks.
Game notes: Ida’s Gavin Albring topped 1,000 rushing yards for the season last week. … Ecorse coach Larry Johnson previously coached at River Rouge, where he won a state championship 2019. … Ida is playing for a district title for the fourth time in the last six years, each time against a different opponent – Jackson Lumen Christi (2024), Clinton (2021) and Blissfield (2020)
Ida coach Jeff Potter (ninth year, 58-33): “Ecorse is big and physical upfront with a talented stable of backs. They run the ball on offense and pick their spots to throw. They are very similar to us on offense. Defensively, Ecorse's size could give us some problems. We have to get movement on the line of scrimmage to create space for our running backs. They run well on the back end, so we will need to be able to sustain drives on offense.”
Ecorse coach Larry Johnson (first year): “Ida is a very physical team, who plays every play like it’s their last. They are very well coached and we will have to play a complete game to give ourself a chance to win Friday night. The keys to the game are to be great on first down offensively and defensively. We must tackle at a high level because they have several players that can make you miss and score fast.”
Clinton (8-2) at SMCC (8-2)
Division: 7.
All-time series: SMCC leads 10-2.
Last meeting: SMCC won 51-30 in the district finals Nov. 8 of last year.
SMCC playoff history: In the playoffs last year for the 30th time, most in Monroe County Region history. Were state runners-up last year. Won MHSAA state titles in 1991, 2014 and 2019. The Falcons are 62-26 all-time in playoff games.
Clinton playoff history: In the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year and 26th time overall.
SMCC statistical leaders: Cole Reinhardt, 132 carries for 958 yards, 14 touchdowns, 6 catches for 44 yards; Brady Hines, 91 carries for 783 yards, 10 TDs, 54 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 14.5 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits; Lukas Linzell, 79 carries for 553 yards, 5 TDs, 48 tackles, 6 TFL; Landon Barron, 25 carries for 275 yards, 5 TDs, 45 tackles; Drew Ferreira, 15-of-36 passing for 236 yards, 4 TDs; Brock Cousino, 3 catches for 113 yards, 1 TD, 56 tackles.
Clinton statistical leaders: Clifford Jones, 126 carries for 836 yards, 9 touchdowns; Gradyn Whelan 53-of-87 passing for 973 yards, 10 TDs, 76 carries for 560 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns; Dacari Garrison 19 catches for 354 yard, 5 TDs.
Game notes: SMCC’s Cole Reinhardt needs just 41 yards to reach 1,000 for the season. … By breaking up four passes last week against Leslie, Jack Fox tied Bennett Schafer for the SMCC team lead with 12. Brady Decator ranks third with 10. … Clinton and SMCC will be playing for the fifth time in the last two years. Clinton beat the Falcons 22-14 in a playoff game on Nov. 3, 2023. The teams played each other twice last season and again in the season opener this year. SMCC won all three of those games.
SMCC coach Adam Kipf (11th year, 88-35): “There is a lot of familiarity between our programs at this point. They play physical and do a lot of different things offensively. They have the ability to put the ball in the air and pound it on the ground. They are a dangerous team. Defensively, they get after it up front and their linebackers play sideline to sideline. This is a really good football team. … We have to be efficient on offense. We can't afford to make mistakes or turn the ball over. Maintaining blocks up front is very important. We have to block to the whistle. Defensively, we have to keep everything in front of us. We have to capitalize on any mistakes that they make. Gang tackling has to be at the top of our priority list this week.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Bedford, Carlson, Ida, Jefferson, SMCC continue state-title quests
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