High school football: Breaking down the top games in Week 8

Temperance Bedford football coach Dave Mifsud asked his players an honest question after they beat Ann Arbor Huron in Week 7.

"If I told you back in March when I become your coach that we'd be 7-0, would you have believed me?"

Mifsud left Woodhaven last offseason to take over Bedford, just a two-mile drive from his house compared to the 40 miles north he used to travel to Brownstown.

The downside? He was leaving his established program for one that hadn't finished better than .500 in the previous three seasons.

Building something new would take sweat equity from his staff and players. And maybe it would be a while before Bedford started winning consistently.

Bedford (7-0, 5-0) is undefeated through seven weeks for the first time since 2013 and now has a chance to win the Southeastern Conference Red Division title when it hosts Saline (7-0, 5-0) in its conference finale Friday, Oct. 16.

"It's a first-year coach with a first-year system and we are getting better all the time, and I feel great about where we are right now," Mifsud said. "But we can't be satisfied. We've got to keep working. I think this team has a lot of potential and we're still growing and still learning."

A measuring-stick game against a juggernaut like Saline should tell Mifsud just how far his team has come.

Bedford is coming off a dominant performance at Huron, where quarterback Luke Whetstone and receiver Jaxson Lestock connected for two TD passes in the first half before running back Masyn Moran took over in the second.

Moran finished with 98 yards and a TD, including late runs of 19, 12 and 10 yards to help seal the 35-0 victory.

Linebacker Everett Wingate also dictated play defensively.

"We've got to play assignment football," Saline coach Kyle Short said. "We keep preaching to our defense to do their 1/11th, and we've got to be prepared for their buck-sweep, counter action run game while also being ready for their quarterback to throw the ball. Their running back is a monster, and you've got to tackle him low."

Saline has lots of talent, too, starting with sophomore quarterback Case Campbell , who has thrown for 1,183 yards and 21 TDs without an interception while completing nearly 70% of his passes. He's also rushed for three TDs.

Three-star senior Louis Esposito , a Michigan commit, anchors Saline's veteran offensive line. Running back Carson Cherry has rushed 78 times for 787 yards and 12 TDs, while Grand Valley State commit Cruz Hanson has caught 16 passes for 328 yards and eight TDs.

Western Michigan tight end commit Gabe Iadipaolo has added 259 receiving yards and four TDs.

Bedford will have its hands full against a Saline team averaging 49.9 points per game and known for making explosive plays.

"We're going in and playing one of the very best teams in the state, and we have the opportunity to compete for the league championship with them," Mifsud said. "We want to find out what we can do. We want to show up and give it our best and see what we can do. We want to compete and be on that level as Saline."

Clarkston (7-0, 4-0) at Harper Woods (6-1, 5-0), 7, Friday

One of the craziest finishes of 2025 was Harper Woods' 27-21 comeback victory over Clarkston, which went down as Clarkston's lone loss of the regular season.

Clarkston grabbed a commanding 21-0 lead before giving up 27 unanswered points to Harper Woods and quarterback Nate Rochelea , who threw for 240 yards and three TDs. Two went to Oregon commit Dakota Guerrant , the five-star receiver widely considered Michigan's top 2027 recruit by media outlets.

Rochelea has since graduated, but Guerrant and 35 other veterans are back, giving Harper Woods one of the deepest rosters in metro Detroit. For perspective, 12 of those veterans play on the offensive and defensive lines.

"Winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball will be critical to the success of both the offense and the defense," Clarkston coach Josh Pintar said. "Whoever does the best job in the trenches and whoever takes care of the ball the best will likely win this game."

Clarkston will counter with quarterback Alex Waszczenko , who has thrown for 670 yards and eight TDs with only two interceptions. Kiernan Riddle has carried the ball 42 times for 530 yards and five TDs, while Drew French has caught 10 passes for 230 yards and four TDs.

Hunter Kauth paces Clarkston's defense with 48 tackles, one sack and two interceptions.

"(We) have to be able to limit their explosive plays with their big playmakers," Pintar said. "Offensively, we need to take care of the ball and limit the negative plays, which is something we have been really good at lately."

Detroit Cass Tech (7-0, 5-0) vs. Detroit King (6-1, 4-1), 7, Friday, Ford Field

The Detroit Public School League capped ticket sales for the first meeting in Week 5 to keep things from getting too rowdy in the tight quarters at Detroit Cass Tech.

That won't be an issue during the rematch. Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, is once again hosting the PSL Final.

Detroit King is hoping for a different result after fumbling a 7-0 lead and allowing Cass Tech to score 20 unanswered points in a 20-7 loss.

Aside from Cass Tech's stellar defense, running back Julian Taylor was the star three weeks ago . He scored twice in the final seven minutes, including racing 48 yards for the go-ahead TD to clinch the victory.

Taylor iced the win with a 7-yard rushing TD with 1:49 left, spoiling any chance of a late King comeback.

The rematch should be just as close, only this time, the bigger venue and bigger crowd should crank up the intensity with a championship on the line.

Ecorse (7-0, 5-0) at Detroit Edison (6-1 5-0), 4, Friday

The numbers say this will be one of the closest games of the season, with football analytics blog Goosepoop favoring Ecorse by just half a point.

That says a lot about how far Ecorse has come since joining the Charter School Conference in 2024. It has gone from a middle-of-the-pack program to one of the league's best, with a chance to challenge defending Gold Division champion Detroit Edison for the title this week.

"In order for us to beat DEPSA, we will have to play a complete game in all three phases of football," Ecorse coach Larry Johnson said. "We have to make sure we don't beat ourselves because they are already a talented team with great coaching who doesn't need our help."

Quarterback Thomas Burgess II has thrown for 745 yards and seven TDs with just two interceptions to lead Ecorse's offense. Running backs Chrishaun Massey-Johnson and Rishon Langford-Smith have combined for 1,071 rushing yards and 19 TDs, while receiver Rakari Crocker has caught 16 passes for 312 yards and four TDs.

Langford-Smith also leads the defense with 40 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and an interception. Malik Putman has 33 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and four sacks, while Jaylen Banks has added 28 tackles and four sacks. Crocker has two interceptions.

"A few things that stand out about them is they are well-coached, big and athletic," Edison coach Chan Brock said. "They do a good job of mixing up run and pass and have been able to keep teams honest. They are able to hurt defenses with the run and pass."

Edison has plenty of firepower of its own. QB Myles Matlock has thrown for 1,100 yards and 15 TDs, while Jaivon Plowden has rushed for 840 yards and seven TDs. Kenji Wyche-El has caught 27 passes for 480 yards and three TDs, and Mekhi James-Davis has added 25 catches for 390 yards and four TDs.

Plowden also anchors the defense with 65 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. Ryan Thurmond has 87 tackles and 15 tackles for loss, while Karmelo Carlisle has 10 tackles for loss and two sacks. Andre Neal has four interceptions despite missing two games, and Jayden Taylor has picked off three passes.

"We will get lined up, play hard, smart and execute in moments and that should be enough to be successful in defending our Charter School championship," Brock said.