Familiar names all around for Week 1 of high school football season
Football coaches are a dedicated group. And sometimes they pop up in interesting places.
Here’s a few local examples:
Matthew Randall, who resigned in June after more than a decade as the Onsted varsity baseball coach, is now an assistant coach at Madison.
Stefan Wilkinson, the Morenci track and field coach who spent a year as the Bulldog head football coach, is an assistant at Bedford.
John Schuler, longtime Lenawee County coach with Clinton and most recently Lenawee Christian, has reunited with former Clinton head coach Jeremy Fielder at Dundee, where both are assistant coaches.
“Football is more of my natural intensity level,” Randall said.
It’s not his first-time coaching football. He was an assistant when Randy Hutchinson coached at Tecumseh. He’s helping Madison head coach Scott Gallagher with the offense this season.
“He lives right near the school,” Gallagher said. “I talked him into joining the staff. He’s a good coach. You always want good coaches around you.”
Wilkinson teaches at Morenci with the son of Bedford head coach John Phillips.
“When we knew he wasn’t coaching Morenci anymore, my son talked to me about bringing him in,” Phillips said. “He’s a great addition to the staff.”
Addison’s Joshua Lindeman has a former head football coach on his staff as well in Josh Kubiak, who coached several seasons at Columbia Central.
Madison faces Columbia Central in Week 1, one of the highlights of opening week which spans Thursday and Friday.
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Columbia Central at Madison
Game: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Matchup: Columbia Central left the LCAA to join the expanded Cascades Conference. Madison slid into their spot in the LCAA. Now they open on the football field this season.
“We will get a taste of the hard-nosed LCAA schedule in week 1,” Gallagher said.
Detroit Voyager at Addison
Game: 7 p.m. Thursday
Matchup: The Cougars went 7-3 last season and averaged 35 points a game. Addison went 5-5 and returns one of the more dynamic players in the county in senior running back Spencer Brown.
Hanover-Horton at Hudson
Game: 8 p.m. Thursday
Matchup: Hudson won the first-ever meeting between the two schools last year 44-8. Hanover has tremendous team speed and will be an improved team. It will be important for us to play gap sound defense and tackle well is space.
Onsted at Napoleon
Game: 7 p.m. Thursday
Matchup: Napoleon is part of the bigger Cascades Conference. They are in the East Division. Onsted is 11-2 all-time vs. the Pirates, who are coming off a 12-1 season and reached the Division 7 semifinals.
Whiteford at Blissfield
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: The Royals have been dinged up during practice, enough where head coach Ron Estes sat out a few starters from the scrimmage. The Bobcats will debut a new starting quarterback following the graduation of Division 7/8 Player of the Year Shea Ruddy. The candidates are senior Ryin Ruddy and freshman Tre Eitniear.
Ann Arbor Pioneer at Adrian
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: Adrian won five games last year, equaling the school’s win total from 2017-2021 combined. The Maples open with Pioneer, an SEC-Red team that has an all-time record of 21-16 vs. the Maples but is 2-22 the last three seasons. “We are excited at the challenge of playing a Division 1 opponent to begin the season,” said Adrian coach Joel Pryzgodski. “They will have great size and athleticism.”
Clinton at Notre Dame Prep
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: Clinton head coach Casey Randolph called Notre Dame Prep a top five team in Division 5. “We look forward to the challenge after last year’s barn burner with them,” Randolph said, referring to Clinton’s 30-27 win over the Fighting Irish.
Lenawee Christian at Britton Deerfield
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: The marquee 8-Player game of the season locally. Both schools are members of the Tri-County Conference for every sport except football and could both be members of the Tri-River 8 football-only conference next season. “We know they are well-coached and eager to get back to the playoffs,” LCS head coach Bill Wilharms said.
Morenci at Toledo Christian
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: The Ohio High School Athletic Association is having 8-Player playoffs for the first time, and some consider Toledo Christian a state title contender. Morenci has a new coaching staff as it looks to improve on a 1-6 season.
Quincy at Sand Creek
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: The Aggies will host their season opener for the first time since 2020. They have two straight wins over the Orioles.
Tecumseh at Jackson Northwest
Game: 7 p.m. Friday
Matchup: Northwest was on the playoff bubble last year, falling just short. They are looking for their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2007-2008. “We were lucky to get some film on them from last year so have been preparing for their schemes,” said Tecumseh (10-1 last season) coach Greg Dolson. “They are a team who looks to run the ball between the tackles and possess the ball.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Familiar names all around Lenawee County for Week 1 of football
