Bedford falls to Saline 35-21 as the Hornets clinch the SEC Red title and end the Kicking Mules’ unbeaten run

TEMPERANCE, Mich. — Saline won the Southeastern Conference Red Division title outright Friday night, beating Bedford 35-21 at Bedford High School and handing the Kicking Mules their first loss of the season.

Both teams arrived 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the division, so the winner took the crown. Saline is now 8-0 and 6-0 in the SEC Red. Bedford falls to 7-1 and 5-1 and finishes second, according to MaxPreps.

Saline led 7-0 after one, 14-7 at halftime and 28-14 after three, according to the quarter-by-quarter line posted on MaxPreps. Bedford scored 7 points in each of the last three quarters, but Saline outscored it 14-7 in the third to pull away. Individual statistics had not been posted late Friday.

The loss ends Bedford’s best start in more than a decade. The Kicking Mules had started 7-0 for the first time since 2013, in Dave Mifsud’s first season as head coach, The Detroit News reported before the game. They came in off a 35-0 shutout at Ann Arbor Huron on Oct. 8 and a 38-35 win at Dexter on Oct. 2, their schedule shows.

Saline was averaging 49.9 points a game coming in, according to The Detroit News, which called the Hornets a juggernaut. Bedford held the Hornets below that, but the 35 points tied the most the Kicking Mules have allowed this season; Dexter also scored 35 against them.

Bedford’s 21 points matched the most anyone has scored on Saline this year. River Rouge also put up 21 in a 42-21 Saline win on Oct. 9. The Hornets have allowed 73 points in eight games, according to their MaxPreps schedule.

Both teams finish the regular season outside the league next Friday, Oct. 23. Bedford plays at Grand Ledge and Saline plays at Lake Orion, with both games set for 7 p.m., according to the teams’ schedules.

Sources:
MaxPreps, “Saline vs Bedford, Football, 10/16/2026” (final score, quarter-by-quarter line, records), https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/football/game/bedford-temperance-vs-saline/10-16-2026/?c=59c52af4-da4d-46f6-bd02-b44179070813
MaxPreps, “Bedford Kicking Mules Football Schedule, 2026-27” (results, SEC Red standing, Oct. 23 game at Grand Ledge), https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/temperance/bedford-kicking-mules/football/schedule/
MaxPreps, “Saline Hornets Football Schedule, 2026-27” (results, points allowed, Oct. 23 game at Lake Orion), https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/saline/saline-hornets/football/schedule/
The Detroit News, Brandon Folsom, “High school football: Breaking down the top games in Week 8,” Oct. 15, 2026 (Bedford’s first 7-0 start since 2013, Mifsud’s first season, division title stakes, Saline scoring average), https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/10/15/high-school-football-breaking-down-the-top-games-in-week-8/92247378007/
Photo: Dwight Burdette, “Bedford High School Temperance Michigan.JPG,” Dec. 29, 2011, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_High_School_Temperance_Michigan.JPG

Bedford Township

Tags: Bedford Township · Sports · Bedford Kicking Mules · Saline Hornets · High School Football · SEC Red