ADRIAN — Jake Iott was surprised when he saw a football coming right at him.
“I was shocked,” the Whiteford senior linebacker said. “It was like it was meant for me.”
Iott’s 93-yard interception return just before halftime was the key play in Whiteford’s 35-6 state-semifinal victory Saturday over Riverview Gabriel Richard at Adrian College’s Docking Stadium. It put the 13-0 Bobcats into Saturday’s Division 8 state championship game. It’s Whiteford’s second straight state finals appearance and fourth in the past eight years.
Next week’s opponent? Ubly, the same team Whiteford defeated last year at Ford Field. Ubly topped Beal City 24-6 in Saturday’s other Division 8 semifinal.
Whiteford was leading 14-0 late in the second quarter when Richard mounted its biggest drive of the game. A 33-yard pass put the Pioneers into the Bobcat red zone. They had a second down from the 12-yard line when Pioneer quarterback Nick Sobush dropped back to pass.
“I knew they were most likely to pass,” Iott said. “I was dropping back, and I see the ball come up and it was right to me. I saw the open field and I got out and turned on the jets.”
Iott got a couple of key blocks and reached the end zone, and Whiteford led 20-0 at halftime.
“That was a great play,” Whiteford coach Todd Thieken said. “To make the catch was one thing, then he made a great return. That was a 14-point swing.”
Iott is one of five four-year starters for the Bobcats, along with Drew Knaggs, his brother Jack Iott, Hunter DeBarr, and Ryin Ruddy.
Ruddy said the interception from Jake Iott was a big key to the game.
“We didn’t start out as good as we had hoped,” Ruddy said. “We started picking it up and got into our groove. That pick-six really gave us some momentum.”
On offense, Iott finished with two touchdowns and 94 yards rushing to lead the Bobcats.
“He was all over the field today,” Thieken said. “He had another great game.”
The Bobcats scored the first two times they had the ball in the second half, as well, to build a 35-0 lead before Gabriel Richard (8-5) scored on a late touchdown inside the four-minute mark of the game.
In addition to Iott’s touchdown runs of five and 26 yards and his defensive score, Ruddy had a 14-yard touchdown run and Kolby Masserant caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from freshman starting quarterback Tre Eitniear.
“The kids did great,” Thieken said. “I loved how when we went in at halftime to the locker room, everyone just kept talking about finishing, about not letting up. We got the ball to start the second half and just went right down and scored.”
Whiteford had 292 yards of total offense and 18 first downs, compared to 203 yards and eight first downs for Richard.
Masserant broke the school’s single season record with his 41st reception of the season and had nine tackles on defense. Brandon Knaggs had an outstanding game on defense, as well, coming in with seven stops. Richard completed just one pass on the day.
Antonio Sobush scored on a 60-yard touchdown run for Richard with 3:58 left in the fourth quarter. It was by far the biggest play of the day for Richard, who committed several costly penalties, especially in the first half. One came on a four-and-two from near midfield that kept a Bobcat drive alive.
Whiteford, who plays in the Division 8 title game at 10 a.m. Saturday has won 27 consecutive games, dating back to a 2021 semifinal loss. The Bobcats beat Ubly 26-20 in last year’s title contest.
Thieken said the Bobcats have had a goal of winning back-to-back state championships all season.
“We’re going to make sure in these next seven days we’ll do what we have to do to prepare,” he said.
First Published November 18, 2023, 8:15 p.m.
