Football: Defense, ground game lead to freshman Chemics’ victory

by Jason Wolverton

Midland High overcame a sub-par first half and the defense stepped up when it mattered most as the freshman Chemics kicked-off their 2007 campaign with a 15-6 victory over the visiting Mount Pleasant Oilers.

Quarterback Chris Schreiber had a pair of fourth quarter touchdown runs and Paulo Balanza ran for 131 yards as the Chemics scored 15 unanswered points against a tough Oilers’ defense they had been unable to solve for the game’s first 36 minutes.

“I’m proud of the guys that they came out and fought in the second half,” said head coach Keith Schulte after the win. “Nothing seemed to go right in the first half.”

That first half began with a first quarter where neither team managed a first down while the defense dominated the game. But as the second quarter got underway, the Chemics’ defense began to bend. The Oilers put together a long drive that seemed destined to end in a score after tight end Marshall Livingston caught a pass over the middle and broke into the open field. But Balanza made a touchdown-saving diving tackle and the defense stuffed Mount Pleasant in the red zone on four straight plays to get the ball back.

“Defensively I thought we did a good job except that we gave up two big plays and one of them led to a touchdown,” Schulte said. “Other than that I felt like our defense was solid the whole game.”

That one score came with 3:31 to go in the half when the Oilers’ Alexander Horton broke a run to the outside and scampered 30 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Mount Pleasant failed on the extra-point attempt and the two teams swapped turnovers the rest of the quarter as the Oilers held a 6-0 halftime lead.

And the second half did not start well for Midland, as the return team was unable to handle a short kickoff and the Oilers recovered to get good field position. But the defense stepped up again and got the ball back on another impressive stand in the red zone.

The third quarter finished much the same for both teams, but the Chemics’ offense finally came alive to begin the fourth. Schreiber scored on a quarterback keeper less than two minutes into the final quarter and Matthew Frazier split the uprights on the PAT to give the Chemics a lead they would not relinquish.

Schreiber would score again with 3:01 to go on a play made possible by a huge 29-yard run on third down earlier in the drive by Balanza.

“We’ve got about three or four [running backs] that are good runners, and we’ve just been hoping that somebody steps up,” Schulte said. “He seemed to answer the call, and he did a nice job for us.”

Schreiber would hit Anthony Johnson in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion, and the defense forced another turnover on downs as Midland walked away with the victory.

Offensively, Schreiber finished with 60 yards on the ground and two scores, while on the defensive side Alan Ham had nine tackles. Dustin Heppner and Matthew Silvis had six tackles apiece.

“That’s what Midland football is based on, that Midland defense,” Schulte said. “Those guys answered the call and they did everything that [assistant] coach [John] Mulvaney asked them to do, and we stopped them twice inside the ten-yard line. Those were some huge stops that really allowed us to win the game.”

The Chemics will return to action next Wednesday when they travel to Bay City Central. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more photos from Thursday night’s win, click on “Photo Slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.