Montague has held the red, white, and blue bell for six straight years, still, first-year head coach Justin Dennett is just learning about the rivlary his Wildcats have with Whitehall.
"The first I learned of it was in my first interview for the job," Dennett said. "Tugg Nichols was on the interview committee and he brought it up at the end, just how important it was and kind of explained it."
The neighboring schools will battle Friday night in the game of the week on the Blitz.
"It's a tradition obviously the Whitehall-Montague game, everybody knows its the biggest game of the year for both schools and conference," Nichols, a senior wide receiver and safety, said. "I just wanted him to know when he takes over this role that this game means more to anybody than anything in the world."
Whitehall has never had more desire to get the bell back after falling 34-31 in double overtime to Montague last season.
"Really it is just motivation," Vikings senior inside linebacker Nick Blanchard said. "It was a heartbreaking loss last year in double overtime and coach talks about it all the time and we all know it, as soon as we were walking off that field in Montague last year, all of us had this exact game in mind and haven't stopped thinking about it since."
The OK Gold conference title is also on the line this week in the Blitz Battle as Grand Rapids Catholic Central (5-0, 7-0) visits Cedar Springs (5-0, 6-1), the Cougars are riding a 30-game winning streak dating back to 2019.
Other games we are attempting to cover this week on the Blitz include:
- Ravenna (5-2) at Oakridge (6-1)
- Kalamazoo United (5-2) at Constantine (7-0)
- Byron Center (6-1) at Forest Hills Central (6-1)
- Zeeland West (4-2) at Zeeland East (5-2)
- Hudsonville (4-3) at Grandville (4-3)
- Jenison (2-5) at Caledonia (6-1)
- Coopersville (5-2) vs. Unity Christian (7-0) at Hudsonville
- Spring Lake (6-1) at West Catholic (6-1)
- Fruutport (3-4) at Allendale (3-4)
- Kelloggsville (2-5) at Comstock Park (7-0)
- Portage Central (5-2) at Battle Creel Central (3-4)
- Marshall (2-5) at Harper Creek (5-2)
- Paw Paw (5-2) at Vicksburg (6-1)
- Centreville (6-1) at Muskegon Catholic Central (6-1)
The Blitz airs after game of the American League Championship series with 40 minutes of highlights, reaction and analysis.
For more scores, highlights, and the latest news on high school sports in West Michigan, go to the FOX 17 Blitz page.
