After Growing Up in Program, Giesige Earns Place Among Whiteford Greats
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 26, 2021
Cole Giesige had a big smile on his face when he went into the Ottawa Lake Whiteford huddle during the fourth quarter of Friday night’s win at Erie Mason.
Giesige normally is a running back for the Bobcats, but he is also the backup quarterback for the team. When Whiteford built a big lead Friday to clinch the outright Tri-County Conference championship, Whiteford head coach Jason Mensing inserted Giesige at quarterback.
On the first play, Mensing called Giesige’s number. He then put his arm around the 6-foot-1 senior and called the play.
“He said, ‘You are two yards away from 1,000. Do you want to get it on this play?’ Giesige recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ I was smiling when I went into the huddle.”
Giesige kept the ball and sliced his way through the Erie Mason defensive line for a six-yard gain. Goal accomplished. It was his final carry of the game, but it was a big one. It gave him 1,004 yards for the season.
“The line said, ‘All right, we’re going to get this for you’ and they did,” Giesige said. “I knew I had 909 coming into the game, but I didn’t know where I was at that point. When coach told me, I just started to smile.”
Reaching 1,000 yards has been a goal for Giesige since he was summoned to the varsity his sophomore season.
“That was one thing I set out to do,” Giesige said. “When I was a sophomore and I knew I was going to be on the varsity, I put goals on my walls, and one of them was 1,000 yards in a season. I’m glad I was finally able to accomplish that.”
Mensing said that after a big JV season as a freshman, Giesige was destined to be a big part of the Whiteford football team for the next three seasons.
“He’s a great kid,” Mensing said. “We knew when he was a sophomore and we brought him up that we were going to be relying on him to make big plays. He’s done a nice job.”
On Friday, Whiteford finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and No. 2 in playoff points in Division 8. The Bobcats are among favorites to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Giesige was in eighth grade when the Bobcats made its best-ever playoff run – winning the 2017 Division 8 championship. Giesige played middle school football for the Bobcats that season, but served a role for the varsity as well – he was on the Whiteford sideline for the Final at Ford Field, charting defensive plays for the coaching staff.
“He’s been a part of the program for a long time,” Mensing said.
The son of Troy and Kim Giesige is also an accomplished baseball and basketball player at Whiteford. He was an all-state pitcher last year for the Bobcats baseball team that reached the Quarterfinals, and he is fielding offers to play the sport after high school. He led the Whiteford basketball team in scoring last winter.
“He is a competitor that has a passion to improve at his craft daily,” Mensing said. “He has high expectations for himself and those around him.”
It’s been an outstanding football season for Giesige. He has done a little bit of everything for the Bobcats.
Heading into Friday’s playoff opener, he has scored 25 touchdowns and converted nine two-point conversions for 168 points. He’s rushed for 18 touchdowns, caught four touchdown passes, returned two kickoffs for scores, and went 100 yards on an interception return in Week 8 against Petersburg Summerfield.
He now holds the record for longest kickoff return (95 yards) and longest interception return (100 yards) in school history. He’s moving up the charts in season and career touchdowns. He averages 9.3 yards per carry and nearly 23 yards per reception. His kickoff return average is 40 yards per attempt.
Mensing said scoring touchdowns isn’t all that he does.
“He is a solid blocker, a good ball catcher and obviously a back with good vision and ability to cut,” the 10th-year Whiteford coach said.
Whiteford has been on a roll of late. The Bobcats enter the postseason on a five-game winning streak and are averaging 52 points per game. During the win streak, they have scored 58, 54, 76, 46 and 62 points.
Giesige is one of just five seniors on the team, but they all play important roles. Two-way tackle Noah Bauman is a two-time all-stater and makes an impact on both sides of the ball. Jack Andrews was a center as a sophomore but was converted to tight end and he has caught four touchdowns this season. Ty Ruddy is a team leader and two-way starter, and linebacker Levi Hillard is among the team’s top tacklers.
Thanks to that core group, the Bobcats are primed and ready to make noise in the playoffs.
“I’m not really certain how it compares to years past as each team and journey is so unique,” Mensing said. “I do know we have a great group of guys that I think want to keep competing together a little longer.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Ottawa Lake Whiteford’s Cole Giesige runs the ball during a win over Petersburg Summerfield this season. (Middle) Giesige (far left) walks with the coaching staff during halftime of Whiteford’s 2017 Division 8 Final at Ford Field. (Top photo by Natalie McCormack; middle photo by Cari Hayes.)
1st & Goal: 2025 Week 2 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 4, 2025
When Ishpeming travels to Crystal Falls Forest Park tonight, it will be the first time the Upper Peninsula powers have met since 2022 – and a matchup of two of the first MHSAA Finals champions, as Forest Park won the first Class D title in 1975 and Ishpeming claimed the first championship in Class C that fall.
Meanwhile, much farther south, we’ll look to our first meeting this season of 2024 champions as Jackson Lumen Christi hosts Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Those are just a pair of Week 2 matchups that pop off the page, but there are plenty of note as we start another September. Nearly 75 percent of those mentioned below will be broadcast on the NFHS Network, along with several more, and scores for every game across the state will be posted on the MHSAA Scores page as they conclude.
Bay & Thumb
Ottawa Lake Whiteford (1-0) vs. Harbor Beach (1-0), Saturday at Davison WATCH
This Saturday showdown pits a pair of playoff teams from a year ago that were both expected to face tough matchups in Week 1 – and won their games 56 and 34 points. Harbor Beach has strung together 15 straight regular-season victories and downed Cass City 42-8 after the defeating the Red Hawks by just two points in 2024. Whiteford opened with a 56-0 shutout of a Blissfield team it edged by just seven last season.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Warren De La Salle Collegiate (1-0) at Davison (1-0), Saginaw Swan Valley (1-0) at Frankenmuth (0-1) WATCH, Goodrich (1-0) at Lapeer (0-1), Midland Dow (1-0) at Saginaw Heritage (0-1) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Detroit Catholic Central (1-0) at Toledo Central Catholic (0-1)
This matchup ended up deciding the Catholic High School League Central championship last year as DCC won their Week 2 meeting 21-7 and carried the league lead through the rest of the regular season. The Shamrocks received some of the greatest attention of any team statewide this preseason and justified it with a 41-7 win over Clinton Township Chippewa Valley last week. Central Catholic, an eventual Ohio state runner-up last fall, took reigning MHSAA Division 1 champ Detroit Cass Tech to the end last week while losing 28-27.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Harper Woods (1-0) at Clarkston (1-0) WATCH, Oxford (1-0) at Birmingham Groves (1-0) WATCH, Grandville (1-0) at Detroit Cass Tech (1-0) WATCH, Port Huron Northern (1-0) at Madison Heights Lamphere (1-0) WATCH.
Mid-Michigan
Williamston (1-0) at Hastings (1-0)
Williamston made some noise starting the season with a 46-14 win over Lansing Catholic, which finished Division 6 runner-up last fall. Hastings will provide a second opportunity for the Hornets to avenge a 2024 loss, as they fell to the Saxons 16-12 a year ago during a 1-5 start that still turned into a playoff berth. Hastings – a District finalist the last four seasons – won its opener last week 31-29 over Middleville Thornapple Kellogg with a field goal as time expired.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Reed City (0-1) at Belding (1-0), Mason (1-0) at DeWitt (1-0) WATCH, New Lothrop (1-0) at Durand (1-0) WATCH, Portland (1-0) at Lansing Sexton (0-1) WATCH.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Traverse City St. Francis (1-0) at Ogemaw Heights (1-0) WATCH
We knew Ogemaw Heights was leveling up with its 2023 win over St. Francis, and although the teams didn’t play each other last year the Falcons are a combined 19-4 over the last three, including a pair of District Final losses. They opened with a big win last week over Flint Hamady, while St. Francis set the tone with a 30-6 victory over Maple City Glen Lake, which like the Gladiators was a league champion last season.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Gaylord (1-0) at Kingsley (1-0) WATCH, Harbor Springs (1-0) at Mancelona (1-0) WATCH, Frankfort (1-0) at Maple City Glen Lake (0-1) WATCH, Kalkaska (1-0) at Oscoda (1-0) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (1-0) at Jackson Lumen Christi (0-1) WATCH
After two games last week across the state featured teams that finished at Ford Field last year, here’s the first between reigning champions as Division 5 Notre Dame Prep looks to add to last season’s 28-24 win over eventual Division 6 title winner Lumen Christi. That proved to be the Titans’ only loss of 2024, and although they opened this season falling 20-16 at Lombard Montini Catholic of Illinois, they’ll surely be amped to attempt to avenge last year’s defeat.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Clinton (0-1) at Adrian Madison (1-0) WATCH, Ypsilanti Lincoln (1-0) at Ypsilanti Community (1-0), Hudson (1-0) at Ida (1-0) WATCH, Traverse City Central (1-0) at Parma Western (1-0).
Southwest Corridor
Hudsonville Unity Christian (1-0) at Schoolcraft (1-0) WATCH
Schoolcraft reached the Division 7 Semifinals last season and has loaded its nonleague schedule with Unity joined by annual matchups against Centreville and Constantine and a Week 9 meeting with Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep. Three of those four opponents won at least eight games last season, and Unity began building on last year’s 10-1 run with a 55-14 win over Whitehall last week.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Plainwell (1-0) at Galesburg-Augusta (1-0), White Pigeon (1-0) at Hartford (1-0), Ithaca (1-0) at Lawton (1-0) WATCH, Edwardsburg (1-0) at St. Joseph (0-1) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Bark River-Harris (1-0) at Iron Mountain (1-0) WATCH
As one of the smallest among the best, Bark River-Harris doesn’t always make the conversation when we talk about contenders from the Upper Peninsula – but it should. The Broncos have reached the playoffs eight of the last 11 seasons and last week already avenged a loss from 2024. But Iron Mountain has been a nemesis. The Mountaineers have won all 10 meetings since the teams began playing each other annually in 2018, with a couple of playoff matchups in there as well.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Cadillac (0-1) at Escanaba (1-0) WATCH, Ishpeming Westwood (0-1) at Calumet (1-0) WATCH, Kingsford (0-1) at Houghton (0-1) WATCH, Negaunee (1-0) at Gladstone (0-1) WATCH.
West Michigan
Rockford (0-1) at Muskegon (0-1)
The last time these two both started the season 0-1 was 2015, and this matchup could tell mean a lot moving forward this fall. Granted, a second loss won’t end anyone’s season – but a win will really help. Muskegon has Byron Center, Mona Shores and Cincinnati Moeller among others left on the schedule, and Rockford will see three 2024 playoff teams during league play plus a fourth that upset the Rams last year. Rockford downed the Big Reds in last season’s meeting 28-21 and 27-7 in 2023.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Byron Center (0-1) at East Kentwood (1-0) WATCH, Portage Central (1-0) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (1-0) WATCH, Vicksburg (1-0) at Grand Rapids Northview (1-0) WATCH, Coopersville (0-1) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (0-1).
8-Player
Portland St. Patrick (1-0) at Morrice (1-0)
Morrice’s only loss last season on the way to the Division 2 championship game came in Week 4 against St. Patrick, and the Orioles avenged that 17-point defeat with a 28-22 Regional Semifinal win over the Shamrocks. The rivals are 2-2 against each other since becoming league foes again in 2022, and as usual both are coming off big opening-night wins – Morrice 49-0 over St. Charles and St. Patrick 62-12 over Merrill.
Keep an eye on these THURSDAY Mendon (1-0) at Britton Deerfield (1-0) WATCH. FRIDAY Ishpeming (0-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (0-1) WATCH, Newberry (1-0) at Ontonagon (1-0) WATCH, Norway (1-0) at Powers North Central (1-0) WATCH.
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PHOTO A Goodrich defender chases down Frankenmuth's quarterback during the Martians' Week 1 win. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)