Football: Roberson leads Chemics to comeback win; Midland advances to play BCC

by Cory Butzin

Arthur Hill’s passing attack put Midland in a hole early Friday night.

But the Chemics’ ground game pulled them out of it.

Colter Roberson ran for 220 yards and five touchdowns as Midland came from behind early in the fourth quarter to defeat the Lumberjacks 43-29 in an opening-round Division 2 playoff matchup.

“It was a tug of war,” said Midland coach Terry Wilczek. “For awhile it was like who’s going to let go of the rope. We had to try everything because they were tough.”

Roberson scored three times in the game’s final 12 minutes, helping Midland rack up 20 unanswered points on the Arthur Hill defense. And while the running attack was the story of the night, it was the defense that turned the tide for the Chemics.

Arthur Hill led 29-23 heading into the fourth after being in control much of the first three quarters. But with 8:54 to go, Roberson broke free for a 22-yard touchdown to tie the game. Catlin Porter lined up for the go-ahead PAT, but was wide on the attempt as the teams remained deadlocked at 29-29.

But the miscue didn’t rattle Porter or the Chemics.

On the second play of the Lumberjacks’ ensuing possession, Porter stepped in front of a Mike Schaaf pass to give the Chemics the ball back on Arthur Hill’s 11. Roberson would punch it in from seven yards out a few plays later to give Midland its first lead. Porter split the uprights on the extra point to make it 36-29.

“We just had to make plays out there,” Porter said. “The missed extra point was no big deal. We just came back out and made a big play.”

After Porter’s big play, the Chemics were able to make a few more. With 6:57 to go, Schaaf’s throw over the middle sailed past its target and into the waiting arms of Tyler Prokop, who returned it all the way down to the Lumberjacks’ 4. Roberson scored his fifth and final touchdown of the evening from there, and Porter’s extra point pushed Midland’s lead to 43-29.

On the next possession, The Colter Roberson Show moved to defense as he picked off a pass giving Midland the ball at midfield. Roberson later added an interception in the end zone that sealed the win for the Chemics.

“There was a lot of adversity in the first half,” Roberson said. “We just had to get through it, and I think we did a great job with that.”

While the Chemics did a great job in the fourth quarter, the same could not be said for much of the first half.

Arthur Hill marched down the field on its opening drive to begin the scoring with a 23-yard field goal by Brandon Maciejewski to put the Lumberjacks up 3-0.

That lead would become 3-2 a few minutes later when a Porter punt pinned Arthur Hill inside their own 10. The first snap sailed over Schaaf’s head and out of the end zone for a safety.

Three minutes later, the Lumberjacks marched down the field and Schaaf punched it in from one yard out to give Arthur Hill a 10-2 lead following the extra point.

On Midland’s next possession Roberson took the handoff, broke off the right side and raced 59 yards for his first touchdown to move the score to 10-8.

Arthur Hill continued to break Chemic tackles, though, as they marched down the field and scored again when Schaaf found Omari Humes for a 12-yard touchdown reception. The extra point was no good leaving the score 16-8.

“It wasn’t our best tackling night, because they were so strong and big,” Wilczek said. “If you didn’t get up on them, they were gone.”

But Midland refused to surrender. A minute later, Roberson broke through the Lumberjacks’ line again for a 25-yard touchdown run. However, Roberson was stopped short on the 2-point conversion – one of the few times on the night Arthur Hill was able to stop him at all.

“I don’t know how he did it,” Wilczek said of his senior running back. “Doing all the things he did, offensively, defensively…. Two interceptions and two hundred yards, that’s a pretty good night for playoff football.”

If Midland’s running attack was going to tear up the turf, Arthur Hill wasn’t going to be left behind. Jerrell Wilson responded with long runs on the Lumberjacks’ next drive, finally plunging in from two yards out to give them a 22-14 lead following the missed extra point.

Andrew Maxwell would get in on the scoring on the next drive when he orchestrated a drive that ended with a 1-yard sneak that made it 22-20. The 2-point conversion was no good.

The second half began much as the first one ended: with a big play. Four minutes into the third quarter Wilson broke through the Midland defense and sprinted 74 yards for his second score of the night to give Arthur Hill a 29-20 lead, following Maciejewski’s extra point.

That’s when both defenses began to take hold. The two teams continued to grind out the clock until Porter connected on a 28-yard field goal with over two minutes left in the third to bring Midland within six.

That set up the fourth quarter comeback for the Chemics as their defense intercepted Schaaf four times in the final 12 minutes. Heading into the game, Schaaf had only been intercepted twice all season.

“We were able to get some heat on the quarterback and still have good coverage,” Wilczek said. “We changed our strategy a little bit. We got some pressure on the quarterback, dropped a couple extra guys, and we got a couple interceptions because of it.”

Midland’s win sets up a rematch of last year’s district final as the Chemics will travel to Bay City Central to take on the Wolves, who defeated Saginaw Heritage 49-35 in their opening-round matchup. A season ago the Wolves ended the Chemics’ campaign with a 22-21 victory, though Midland defeated Central this year 19-13.

“I expect it will be a very similar style of game,” Wilczek said. “I told our team that when we play Saginaw Valley League opponents in the playoffs, we’re going to see as good of athletes and as tough of people as you’ll find anywhere.”

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

Photos by Jason Wolverton & Cory Butzin