Ruddy, Whiteford Run Into Record Book with Championship Rushing Attack
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 25, 2023
Ottawa Lake Whiteford won its second Finals championship in 2022 with a power rushing attack that’s become expected of the program, but also with a record-setting quarterback leading the way.
Senior Shea Ruddy was added to the MHSAA record book for 4,461 yards and 52 touchdowns passing over four seasons, plus five touchdown passes in a half last season against Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
Whiteford, meanwhile, made the record book for 664 points scored, 5,756 total yards and 87 total touchdowns, 4,515 rushing yards, 635 rushing attempts and 68 rushing scores. Whiteford’s 2021 team also was added for 64 rushing touchdowns, 5,468 total yards and 628 points after a Semifinal run. Ruddy is playing now at Hillsdale College.
See below for more recent updates to the 11-player record book.
11-Player Football
Portland lost a 39-34 heartbreaker to DeWitt on Sept. 1, 2022, but a pair of Raiders top a record book list for one of the game’s biggest highlights. Marc Nobis found receiver Chris Battley for a 99-yard touchdown reception, tying the record for longest scoring pass. Nobis was a senior, and Battley was a sophomore.
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Quentin Ubaydi earned a record book listing for a flawless kicking performance last Aug. 25. He made all 10 of his extra-point tries in his team’s 70-0 win over Detroit Mumford.
The list of football programs with at least 500 wins over their histories is short – but growing. St. Joseph was added with a 563-376-34 record dating to its first season in 1913. The Bears also were added for 706 total yards in their Sept. 30, 2022, game against Portage Northern, a 62-49 win.
Walled Lake Western’s Jaxon Lippert became the 21st player to return a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown when he did so against Davison on Sept. 30, 2022. Lippert is a senior this fall.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix was part of one of the highest-scoring games of the 2021 season, and a pair of then-senior standouts earned individual record listings that day. Quarterback Tyler Roberts threw for 424 yards, and received Kevin Lucas had 223 yards and four touchdowns through the air, although Whiteford prevailed 76-40. Roberts is playing football and baseball at Hope College, and Lucas is playing football at Albion College.
Four decades later, Flint Kearsley standout John Yancer had been added for his 19 sacks over nine games in 1983, including five in the season finale against Flushing. Yancer was a senior that fall.
Holton quarterback Austin Fowler capped his high school career in a big way as a senior in 2021, making the record book seven times for passing – most notably for 2,265 yards, 153 completions and 33 touchdown tosses over nine games. He threw for 463 yards on 32 completions as Holton and Muskegon Heights Academy combined for 108 points that Oct. 30. He’s played baseball at Muskegon Community College this spring.
Tarik Ahmetbasic finished his high school career in 2022 having made 48 straight extra points dating back to the final game of his junior season, and he made the record book three times total for Clinton Township Chippewa Valley. He was added also for 87 extra points over 90 attempts over two seasons as the team’s point-after kicker, and for making all nine of his field goal attempts last fall. Ahmetbasic also just missed the career field goals list with 16 in 18 attempts, having kicked all 16 over the last two seasons after attempting one as a sophomore. He is continuing at Michigan State.
Boyne City seniors Jack Neer and Alex Calcaterra didn’t take long to make memories last season. Both made the record book in an opening 51-35 win over Benzie Central, Neer with seven touchdown passes (tied for eighth-most in a game) and Calcaterra catching five of those (tied for third). Neer signed with Hillsdale College, and Calcaterra is playing basketball at Michigan Tech.
Hudson’s 43-0 win over Blissfield on Oct. 8, 2021, was memorable for a few reasons. But arguably the most notable was achieved by the Tigers’ defense, which held Blissfield without a first down.
Mio’s Grant Price earned two listings over a month near the end of the 2010 season, rushing for six touchdowns in a win over Au Gres-Sims on Oct. 8 and then six again in a win over Cedarville that Nov. 5. He was a junior that season.
Mason set a school record for wins in finishing 12-1 last fall, and expectations are high again with junior Cason Carswell and senior Derek Badgley among returnees this season. Carswell was added to the record book three times including for 2,403 yards and 34 passing touchdowns, and Badgley was added for catching four of Carswell’s six touchdown passes in a Regional Final win over Trenton. Sophomore Collin Winters also was added after connecting on 58 of 62 extra-point tries, and the Bulldogs as a whole made the season scoring list with 554 points.
Senior Charlie Martyn joined a group of accomplished Ithaca kickers with his achievements over the last three seasons, earning record book entries for nine straight extra points in a game last fall, 53 extra points in 57 tries total over 11 games and 82 extra points in 95 tries over a three-year career with nearly all of those points coming as a junior and senior. He will next play baseball at Alma College. Ithaca also was added for holding St. Louis to only three first downs during their 2022 meeting.
A pair of Coopersville standouts capped their careers last fall with multiple entries in the record book. Four-year varsity quarterback Colton Bosch was added for 329 completions, 572 attempts and 4,574 passing yards, while three-year receiver Ryan Serba was added for 129 receptions and 1,975 yards for his career. Additionally, then-junior teammate Nick Gordon was added for 14 receptions in a game against Hudsonville Unity Christian on Sept. 9 and four touchdowns against Allendale on Oct. 7. Bosch will continue his career at Concordia-Chicago.
Semaj Morgan capped a magnificent three-season career at West Bloomfield last fall with four record book entries, most notably for his receiving. Morgan was added for 116 receptions and 1,876 yards over 34 career games, including 1,015 yards as a junior in 2021. He also earned a listing for a 100-yard interception return against Lake Orion last Sept. 24. He is continuing his career at Michigan.
Brandon Soltis completed his DeWitt football career in the fall with the career-record 207 extra points over his 47 games and four seasons – 46 more than the previous record holder. He drilled 55 of 57 tries last season to move to the top of the list, including a stretch of 38 consecutive. Teammate Bryce Kurncz was added for his 23 touchdown catches over 21 games and two seasons, and DeWitt as a team was added for 623 yards in a game against Grand Ledge, 5,056 yards over its 12 games for the season and for allowing only four first downs in its season-opening win over Haslett. Soltis is continuing at Hope College, and Kurncz is playing at Michigan Tech.
M'Khi Guy became the latest Muskegon star quarterback to reach the record book, doing so with six rushing touchdowns in his team’s 49-21 Division 3 Semifinal win over DeWitt on Nov. 19. Guy is a senior this fall.
A trio of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice standouts were added for accomplishments last season or over careers that finished in 2022. Senior Henry Garrity made the single-game receiving yardage list with 225 against Warren De La Salle Collegiate on Sept. 16, and senior Griffin Pardi made the longest-punt list that game with a 72-yarder. Senior Owen Pardi finished his three-season varsity career last fall with 85 extra points in 95 tries. Jake Coulter also was added to the longest-punt list for his 71-yarder in 2020. Garrity is continuing at Notre Dame, and Owen Pardi is continuing at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Coulter plays baseball at Central Michigan.
Belleville kicker Brayden Lane made the single-season extra point list for the second time last season, connecting on 74 of 79 attempts. He’s also now on the career list with 126 in 144 attempts heading into his junior season this fall.
Edwardsburg continued to achieve among the state’s highest-producing offenses the last two seasons, ranking among the all-time leaders with 5,227 total yards, 4,634 rushing, and 89 total touchdowns with 78 rushing in 2021, plus 4,343 rushing yards in 2022. Trevor Houseworth was a senior on the 2021 team and made individual lists with 73 extra points in 79 attempts and a long punt of 81 yards. He’s kicking at Saginaw Valley State.
Reed City continued its run of success in 2022, finishing 11-2 and making the MHSAA record book with 544 points total including 73 touchdowns – with 54 rushing, 13 passing, four on special teams and two scored while playing defense.
PHOTO Ottawa Lake Whiteford quarterback Shea Ruddy takes a snap to start an eventual touchdown run during last season’s Division 8 Final at Ford Field.
Bedford Follows Mifsud's Hall-of-Fame Formula to 7-0 Start, SEC Red Title Game
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2026
The rumors of Dave Mifsud living across the street from Temperance Bedford High School or being able to see the school from his kitchen window are greatly exaggerated.
Mifsud, in his first year coaching the Kicking Mules, actually lives about five minutes from the stadium. And, no, he can’t see the glow from the Friday night stadium lights from his house.
All joking aside, Mifsud may have found the perfect spot to continue his hall of fame career. After stops at Dearborn, Parma Western, Monroe and Brownstown Woodhaven, Mifsud took over the Bedford program in January and has the Mules off to a remarkable 7-0 start heading into Friday night’s Southeastern Conference showdown with powerhouse Saline.
“I feel like I'm at home right now,” Mifsud said this week. “I feel working and coaching at Bedford, being around this community, I feel like I'm at home.”
The funny part is, he wasn’t looking for one.
Mifsud said he moved to Temperance about five years ago to be closer to his son and three grandchildren in Toledo. He became the head coach at Brownstown Woodhaven and thought he had found his last coaching stop.
“When I took the Woodhaven job, I said, ‘This is it – I’m not going to change jobs again.’ But I put a disclaimer on there – and that was unless the Bedford job opened up.”
This past offseason, it did.
Mifsud said the distance driving to and from Woodhaven was the difference.
“I was driving 39 miles each way to work and spending an awful lot of time in the car,” he said. “I didn’t get to enjoy as many community events as I wanted to be involved in, even just going to basketball games or baseball games and things like that. It was just too far from home. So, this job was definitely a big attraction to me.”
He was hired.
By no means was he taking over a bad program. Quite the opposite. Bedford has been a perennial playoff team – they’ve qualified 14 times since 2009 – and contended among the top half of the SEC Red most of those years.
When Mifsud arrived, however, he had a blank slate. He had to bring in an almost entirely new football staff, overhaul the offense, and create a new-look defense.
“I spent hours and hours and lots of late, late nights interviewing coaching candidates,” he said. “I didn’t really know any of them ahead of time. There was one coach, Sean Stephens, that I had met and talked to a couple of times, but really, I didn’t know any of them.
“The foundation was, the thing that I started off explaining to each and every one of them, was my philosophy and what my goals were and where I was coming from. I wanted them to know how we were going to treat the kids and treat the program.”
Football, he said, teaches great life skills and life lessons.
“Our No. 1 goal is for the kids to have the best memories and the most positive memories from their high school days as being part of the football program,” he said.
He hired coaches from Toledo and the Downriver area, a former Bedford player and one coach who was on a previous Bedford staff. He named a football operations coordinator to handle things like media requests and statistics.
The offense, he said, is a combination of all of the offenses he’s run over the years while building a solid resume at Dearborn and Parma Western.
“We adapted and evolved a little,” he said. “I think we’ve cleaned up some of the things we were doing at Woodhaven.
His defense was constructed with the help of Mike Parker, who had coached at Toledo Whitmer, one of the largest schools in northwest Ohio.
The formula has worked wonders. The 7-0 start is something even Mifsud didn’t see coming.
“Going into it, of course you have high hopes,” he said. “I feel like there was the hope or possibility of being 7-0, but there was also this reality that we could be 3-4 or 4-3. You just don’t know how games are going to play out and how kids are going to respond.”
The biggest win was probably the first, a 20-13 victory over Sterling Heights Stevenson.
“The kids played their hearts out that game, and a really great win,” he said.
What’s followed have been six more in much the same fashion.
“We’ve continued on with the thinking that we just need to go 1-0 each week,” he said. “We’ve had to battle and compete in each game.”
Not only did Mifsud have to create a new coaching staff, but few of last season’s ball carriers were back this fall. One who might have been expected to be a starting running back, for example, transferred to an Ohio school. Other players moved positions and into new roles.
Masyn Moran has emerged as the top ball carrier with 636 yards and 12 touchdowns over seven games. Luke Whetstone has thrown for 841 yards while completing 64 percent of his passes. He’s also rushed for more than 500 yards. Jaxson Lestock has 20 catches for more than 300 yards. The Mules offense has been balanced with 263 rushes and 100 passes.
Bedford’s 7-0 start is the first for the program since 2013 and just the third in school history. Mifsud said the same formula that got Bedford to this point is what he plans on using this week against the also-undefeated Hornets. The winner will own the SEC Red title outright.
“There are some really good kids at Bedford, and they have bought into and committed to the new coach and system,” he said. “The school community has been awesome.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Temperance Bedford football coach Dave Mifsud instructs player Brady Boisselle during a game this season. (Middle) Mifsud monitors the action from the sideline. (Photos by Jaymee Beard/Temperance Bedford athletics.)