TEMPERANCE – John Phillips believes Bedford’s football team is ready for prime time.
He boldly proclaimed that in a scheduling decision for the 2025 season.
The Mules had a lot of possibilities to fill an open spot their schedule for Week 9.
Phillips went with the toughest option.
Defending Division 1 state champion will visit Temperance on Oct. 24.
“We did the dance with Cass Tech for a while,” Phillips said. “They were a good fit for us and we were a good fit for them.”
Phillips was sold on the idea from the beginning. What clinched the deal was when he discussed it with his assistants.
“They were unanimous about it,” he said. “My philosophy is that if you want to do big things, you’ve got to go big.”
Playing Cass Tech will raise exposure for Bedford and will be kind of a win-win overall.
“Ever if we lose, we get a ton of playoff points by playing them,” Phillips said.
Bedford’s players welcome the Week 9 challenge.
“It will be fun,” said senior quarterback-defensive back Isaac Henman. “They are a very good school. It should be a heck of a game.”
“I am excited to be playing them,” said senior linebacker-running back Trent Smithson. “They’d better come here ready to play.”
Bedford has been getting ready to play this week with the first week of training camp. High temperature and heavy rain disrupted some of the workouts.
“We didn’t have a great start,” Phillips said. “We lacked focus. Some of that was the weather.”
School officials regularly checked the temperatures on Bedford’s artificial turf playing surface. If it was too hot, the Mules had to move to the grass.
“It’s been hot,” Smithson said. “That’s a distraction, but I feel like we’re getting our work in.”
“Yeah, it’s been hot and we’re trying to install a new offense,” added senior defensive end-tight end Caleb Pryzblyski. “It’s nice to see it coming together.”
Phillips also see things coming together for the Mules.
“The kids are working their butts off,” the coach said. “We’ve got a good core group.”
One of the keys will be keeping that core group together.
“If we had been completely healthy, last year would have been a lot different,” he said of his team’s 5-5 record. “Last year Owen (Przybylski) tore his Achilles in June. This year at least we made it through the summer healthy.”
TRAINING CAMPS
Airport
Monroe
Milan
Erie Mason
BEDFORD SCHEDULE
Aug. 28: at Sterling Heights Stevenson, 7 p.m.
Sept. 5: at ANN ARBOR PIONEER, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12: MANSFIELD (Mass.), 7 p.m.
Sept. 19: at Monroe, 7 p.m.
Sept. 26: at Ann Arbor Skyline, 7 p.m.
Oct. 3: DEXTER, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10: ANN ARBOR HURON, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17: at Saline, 7 p.m.
Oct. 24: DETROIT CASS TECH, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Bedford football team to cap season against defending state champs
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
