Brighton Football Preparing For Success

There’s a special bond among the seniors on the Brighton football team.

They hope that turns into positive results on the field as the Bulldogs look to have a successful season in the Kensington Lake Activities Association West Division and in the state playoffs.

When asked what the team’s strength is this year, senior captain Billy Albert said, “our camaraderie. Our motto this year is ‘All in.’ We’ve got to be like a family.”

“We’ve all been playing together since youth leagues,” added senior captain Andy White. “We have that drive in our hearts.”

The Bulldogs finished 6-4 last season, losing to Howell, 7-3, in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s been a good motivator,” said senior captain Christian Vorias of the loss to the Highlanders.

Brighton coach Cliff Kiefer pointed out that four of the six teams in the KLAA West finished the regular season with records of 6-3, making them all eligible for the playoffs.

“It’s a very competitive league,” Kiefer said. “The West is going to be just like last year. We nicknamed it the ‘Wild West.’ You’ve got to win the close ones, because they’re all going to be close.”

Kiefer said the team has a good amount of returning players and guys with experience.

“Our offensive line is the key,” he said. “We’ll go however far they take us. We want to run the football and on defense we want to stop the run.”

When asked what he thought the No. 1 strength of the Bulldogs, Kiefer said it’s the team’s work ethic.

“They’re great young men to be around and they love football,” he said. “The first thing is to have a winning season. That’s the No. 1 goal of any program. You build from there. To achieve that, you’ve got to love and care for each other. Everything else will take care of itself.”

Key members of the offensive line include: seniors Max Collins, Mike Wagner, Tim Stanisz, Zach Jolly, Nick Picano and juniors JT Covington and Ryan McClelland.

“They’ll be the mainstays,” said offensive line coach George Reck.

The Bulldogs have a slew of tailbacks in seniors Shane Dokey, Nick Savedes, White and Vorias, and juniors Aaron Calderon and Garrett Todd.

Senior captain John Oberpeul returns to lead the offense at quarterback.

Key players on defense include: seniors Zack Patterson, Mitchell Schemanske, Albert, White, Dokey and Vorias.

“James Leitch is another one,” Kiefer said. “We’re expecting great things from him.”

Leitch will be lining up at nose guard.

Brighton opens the season at home Thursday night against Wayne Memorial, which went 0-9 last season.

Sr.