Football: Chemics head to playoffs after 35-8 romp of cross-town rival

by Cory Butzin

The Chemics are headed to the state playoffs in style, led by Michael Albrecht and Andrew Maxwell, who combined to score four touchdowns in a convincing 35-8 win over cross-town rival Dow High in the regular season finale Friday at Midland Community Stadium.

Ablrecht finished with two rushing scores on 72 yards, another score through the air, and an interception on defense, while Maxwell threw for 113 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown.

“It’s always good to get a win against Dow,” Albrecht said. “It’s one of the biggest games of the year. No matter what our records are and no matter what people say it’s always going to be a battle.”

Dow kept up with Midland for the first quarter, until mistakes reared their ugly head for the Chargers.

Early in the second, after the Chemics turned the ball over on downs, Dow turned the ball over on a loose ball when Ty Whittlesey recovered a Kyle Partlo fumble.

Albrecht reached pay dirt from one yard out a few plays later to put Midland up 7-0 following Connor Gagnon’s extra point.

“If you give a turnover to Midland High, it’s going to turn into points,” said Dow coach Kurt Faust. “I thought we were doing some good things on both sides of the ball, but you just can’t turn the ball over. And that was the story tonight.”

The Chargers seemed to settle down after the initial score, until late in the half when everything seemed to implode.

The Chemics took over on downs after a fake punt run by Dow was stopped, and at 3:25 league-leading rusher Charlie Leffingwell plunged in from five yards out. Gagnon’s PAT made it 14-0.

Less than a minute later, Wes Lacourt recovered a Charger fumble and on the first play from scrimmage, Maxwell threw a 28-yard seed to Albrecht in the corner of the end zone for another score to make it 21-0.

“(Maxwell) is unprecedented,” said Midland coach Eric Methner. “I didn’t think about this until the other day and I’m not trying to rub this in or anything, but he’s won five times as a varsity football player against Dow. This is such a big game, a rivalry game, and the city championship game. He’s got five wins and it couldn’t happen to a better kid, just with the way he’s handled all of the pressure and expectations this season.”

But hold on coach, because Maxwell wasn’t done yet.

After Leffingwell brought the Chemics within one yard of another score, Maxwell traveled the other three feet on a quarterback sneak to give Midland a 28-0 lead with 30 seconds left in the half.

The Chargers responded well after the break, fighting back against the Chemics and they began to make some headway when Tyler Schultz picked off a Maxwell pass with 5:38 left in the third, but Dow couldn’t do anything with it offensively.

And when a fumbled punt snap gave Midland the ball deep in Charger territory, Albrecht wasted no time in making them pay when he scampered around the edge and through Dow’s defense racing 31 yards for his third touchdown of the night to make it 35-0.

“If you can give (Albrecht) a crack, he’s fantastic,” Methner said. “He’s one of my favorite high school football players that I’ve ever had a chance to coach. He just plays so hard all the time.”

Albrecht may have been done on offense, but he had just begun on defense and he proved that by picking off a Partlo pass early in the fourth quarter to kill a threatening Charger drive.

But that’s when mistakes stopped happening for Dow and began happening for Midland.

After going three and out, the Chemics lined up to punt away, but the snap went over Gagnon’s head and out the back of the end zone to put the Chargers on the board 35-2.

Dow got on the board, due to their own actions, on the ensuing drive when facing a 4th and goal on the Midland seven, Partlo found Brad Ostergren for a score to make it 35-8. The PAT was blocked.

From there the game was littered with penalties and play stoppages, but time finally ran out on Dow’s season and signaled the beginning of a new season for the Chemics.

The Chargers finish with a 3-6 record overall and 3-5 in league play.

“I always tell the kids it’s not about wins and losses,” Faust said. “They’re champions because they compete… It takes a lot of heart to survive in this league, and I just am so proud of every single one of them for sticking through and fighting and being competitive in every football game when everybody counted us out. They’re heroes, and that’s what I told them. They’ll always be heroes to me.”

Meanwhile, Midland is headed to the playoffs for the seventh straight year after finishing with an 8-1 record.

“It’s been a great season, one tough loss, but we’re ready for the playoffs,” Albrecht said. “It’s going to be great. Playoff runs are great, hopefully we can have another run like last year and just keep the momentum going.”

The Chemics will play host to last year’s first round opponent, Arthur Hill, at Midland Community Stadium Friday, October 31. Game time is 7 p.m.

Photos by Cory Butzin & Jason Wolverton