Football: Midland High cruises to 48-0 win over Flint Northern

by Quinn Kane

Midland High coach Terry Wilczek wanted his team to set the tone early against Flint Northern Friday.

Consider it done.

The Chemics scored seven first-half touchdowns including four in the first quarter as Midland rolled over the visiting Vikings 48-0 at Midland Community Stadium.

“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Wilczek said.”We wanted to come out and start fast…we didn’t give them a chance to breathe…”

The Chemics knocked the Vikings’ breath out quickly, as quarterback Andrew Maxwell hooked up with Kasey Kennett on an 8-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive to give Midland the early lead. Connor Gagnon would add the extra point to make it 7-0.

Maxwell threw his second touchdown pass on the first play of the next drive, hitting Blake Benner for a 30-yard score to make it 14-0.

Midland would extend its lead to 21-0 with 3:25 to go in the first as Colter Roberson caught a short pass from Maxwell and zigzagged his way into the end zone, weaving around several Flint defenders before breaking loose for the score. The senior running back added another touchdown with ten seconds left in the first that made the score 28-0.

The Chemics continued to roll in the second quarter as Kevin Alcott returned a Northern punt 35 yards for a touchdown less than a minute into the second. The extra point failed as Midland held a 34-0 lead.

It was the defense’s turn next as James Williams-Dore picked up a Northern fumble and returned it for a score with five minutes left in the half to make it 41-0. The touchdown for the Chemics’ defense was one more than they’ve allowed in the last three games combined as Friday’s shutout was the third straight for Midland.

“We got a lot of people that fly to the ball out there,” Wilczek said of his defense. “As long as were’ doing that, we’ve got a chance to be competitive every week.”

Roberson added his third touchdown of the game towards the end of the half when he took a Maxwell screen pass and ran over a number of Flint defenders on his way to a 31-yard touchdown.

On the night, Maxwell completed 9 of 13 passes for 173 yards and four scores before being lifted in the second half.

Roberson’s score made it 48-0 and a running clock went into effect in the second half. The Vikings would eventually threaten with about six minutes to go in the game when Reggie Brown ran for 25 yards to put the Vikings in scoring position. But the Flint offense was derailed when Ethan Roberson recovered a fumble to seal the shutout for the Chemics.

With the win, Midland improves to 4-1 overall (4-1 SVL) and has won four straight after an opening season loss to Mount Pleasant. The Chemics will face a tougher test next week when they travel to Bay City Western to take on the Warriors.

“We’ve got some big games ahead of us,” Wilczek.”And I still think we’re capable of playing better, and I believe our team feels that way too. We’ll see if we can keep advancing and keep progressing.”

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

Photos by Dave Williams