Football: Junior Chemics route Chargers

by Quinn Kane

Thursday’s junior varsity matchup between Midland and Dow High was called early because of lightning.

Long before that, though, the Chemics were lighting it up.

Midland scored 24 points in the first quarter and Charlie Leffingwell had over 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Chemics rolled over the visiting Chargers 44-6 at Midland Community Stadium.

“I’m extremely happy with how focused we came out,” said Midland coach Matt Starling. “We didn’t let the distractions of the Dow week affect us.”

The win completes a perfect season for the Chemics as they finish with a record of 9-0. And while Starling was pleased with his team’s unblemished record, he said it was something his players wanted since the beginning of the season.

“It’s what the kids set out to do,” he said. “They set their mind to it from day one and they said we have to go one game at a time, and they did. Their focus from week-to-week was great and for 15 and 16-year-old boys to have that is quite impressive.”

The Chargers, meanwhile, finish the season with a record of 3-6, something coach Charlie Stinson says is not what’s most important.

“…everybody wants to look at your record,” he says. “But what it comes down to is how much football did you learn, and did you have a good time.”

It was the Chemics, however, who were having a good time early when Leffingwell scored from 43 yards out on the third play of the game to give Midland a quick lead. Matthew Alcott would run in the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.

After forcing Dow to punt, the Chemics would get on the scoreboard again when Alcott threw a perfect strike to a wide open Ty Whittlesey for a 30-yard touchdown. Leffingwell’s 2-point conversion made it 16-0.

Leffingwell continued to run over the Chargers’ defense a few minutes later when he picked up a 65-yard touchdown with 4:05 to go in the opening quarter. The 2-point conversion increased Midland’s lead to 24-0.

The Chemics would round out their first half scoring barrage with 7:05 to go in the second when Alcott scored on a 21-yard keeper and then hit Eric Peterson in the end zone for a 2-point conversion to make it 32-0 in favor of Midland at the half.

That lead would become 38-0 just under three minutes into the third quarter when, on the first play after a Dow punt, Leffingwell raced 77 yards for this third score of the evening. The 2-point conversion attempt failed.

“We have two options to give the ball to and they’re pretty good players,” Starling said of the Leffingwell, Alcott duo. “They’ve kind of been our horses all year and we’ve ridden them and they showed up tonight to play for sure.”

Whittlesey scored his second touchdown of the game a minute into the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run and the score was 44-0 after a blocked PAT.

The Chargers would finally get on the board on the next series in somewhat bizarre fashion. After Whittlesey’s touchdown, Midland kicked off and the ball hit the turf and bounced straight back to Midland High to give them another possession. But the Chargers would get it right back when a Chemic fumble was scooped up by Chad Crawford, who sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown. The Chargers tried a fake field goal for the 2-point conversion but it was no good as the score remained 44-6.

That’s when the lightning came and the officials instituted the mandatory half hour delay when lighting is spotted. Starling and Stinson met at midfield, though, and decided that given the score and the forecast that the game should be called.

“We were lucky we got in as much as we did,” Stinson said.

Stinson also said that his team can also find success like that of Midland, it just will require some extra work.

“They’re from Midland and so are we,” he said. “They drink the same water that we do, they have the same zip codes. We have to put in some more time.”

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

Photos by Jason Wolverton