Football: Chargers lose double OT heartbreaker

by Brent Koaches

After getting blown out at Flint Southwestern last week to open the season, Dow High looked strong against Bay City Western Thursday night. Unfortunately for the Chargers, it just wasn’t strong enough.

Warriors’ quarterback Matt Grew scored from nine yards out in the second overtime and the Chargers were unable to find the end zone again as the Warriors beat the Chargers 21-14 at Midland Community Stadium.

“I’m pleased with their effort,” said Dow coach Kurt Faust after the game. “They went toe-to-toe with a great football team, and it just didn’t come out the way we needed it to.”

Things started great for Dow as the Chargers caped a long drive with a 14-yard touchdown run from quarterback Kyle Partlo with about 5:12 left to play in the first. Alex Faust drilled the extra point and the Chargers had a 7-0 lead.

The Warriors would come right back when running back Justin Gwizdala punched it in from a yard out and Western converted the PAT to tie the game.

And the score would remain deadlocked at seven the remainder of regulation, setting up a thrilling OT that began with all the momentum on Dow’s side.

Getting the ball at the 10 to begin overtime, Partlo pitched the ball back to running back Sean Hartman who found Brad Ostergren in the corner of the end zone to give the Chargers their first lead since the opening quarter and send the home crowd into a frenzy.

But that’s when Grew took over, scoring on a keeper from four yards out. Western’s Jacob Boileau’s extra-point tied the game at 14-14.

High school football rules dictated that the Warriors would get the ball right back, as teams alternate possessions in overtime. And this time, Grew would score from about nine yards and Boileau would hit another extra point to give the Warriors their first lead of the game.

That gave Dow the ball back with a chance to tie, but Hartman was stuffed on a short run and Partlo threw three straight incomplete passes as the Warriors held on for the win.

Defensively, Richard Crampton led the Chargers with seven tackles, while Andrew Gaydos, Adam Pinney, and Billy Cynecki each had five. On the offensive side, Hartman led the way with 84 yards on the ground. Partlo finished 5-for-12 passing with 21 yards and one interception.

The Chargers will be in action again next Thursday when they head south to take on Flint Northern. And though Dow has already suffered two losses in a tough division, Faust is confident that his team will play strong throughout the rest of the season.

“The biggest thing with the team right now is that they can’t look back, they’ve just got to look forward and go on,” he said. “This is a tough season and a tough schedule, if you sit there and look back and dwell on your losses, you’re going to flounder. We have to just look forward and try to improve on our efficiency.”

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

Photos by Jason Wolverton