Football: Freshman Chargers drop Trojans for first win

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It was a tale of two halves Wednesday as the Midland Dow freshman football team dominated play in the opening stanza and stagnated in the second half before settling down and holding on for a 26-8 win over visiting Saginaw High, their first win of the season.

“It’s exciting for these kids,” said Dow coach Jason Watkins. “They’ve been working awfully hard, some of them all summer long, and they finally got that monkey off their back. They made some good things happen and got the win.”

The Chargers jumped out to a 26-0 first-half lead, but lost that momentum in the intermission. The Trojans woke up during the intermission and marched down the field for a score. Saginaw threatened several other times, but Dow’s defense held tough to keep Saginaw from doing more damage. The Chargers forced the Trojans into five turnovers, including a pair of picks each by Hayden Gosen and Mike Tomlinson.

Dow’s defense started fast as Tomlinson recorded his first interception on Saginaw’s first possession. But the Chargers’ offense turned the ball over on its first play to give the Trojans possession at midfield. Dow’s defense was up to the task, stifling Saginaw and forcing them to punt.

Eric Greff made the Trojans pay when he took the handoff and rumbled over, around, and through the Saginaw defense for a 41-yard gain. Greff finished his feat a couple plays later when he plunged in from six yards out to give Dow a 6-0 lead. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

The Chargers were threatening again, late in the first, and with less than a minute remaining they resorted to a little trickery. Greff took the handoff from Andrew Kaczmarek and sprinted towards the right side of the line before flipping the ball to Sean Cushman on the reverse. Cushman caught the Trojan defense off-guard and sprinted 17 yards for the score to make it 12-0.

Dow defenders found themselves pinned back on their heels early in the second when a short punt and solid return gave the Trojans possession at the Dow 12-yard line. But the Charger defenders were up to the challenge, refusing to yield an inch as Saginaw was forced back to midfield where they punted away.

Matt Hus fielded the punt and found a hole in the Trojan coverage teams, taking it all the way to the fifty before being forced out of bounds. The offense took advantage at 5:54 when Kaczmarek sneaked in from five yards out. Wesley Bigalke’s extra point made it 19-0.

The Chargers weren’t done though.

Their defense forced a Trojan fumble and no one could claim possession in the scrum that followed, until the ball squirted out from underneath the pile and into the arms of Hus who raced forty yards for the score to push Dow’s insurmountable lead to 26-0 going into the half.

That’s when the Chargers seemed to run out of steam as the only momentum they could find in the second half came on the defensive side of the ball.

Midway through the third, the Trojans were taking advantage of their tall receivers and drove the ball down to Charge one. But they couldn’t get any closer, as Dow’s defense failed to yield a score.

“It was a tremendous job by the defense,” Watkins said. “I thought they played a great game against some real good talent. Those wide receivers were tough. They’re faster and stronger than anyone we’ve got, but we were able to shut them down a little bit.”

That wouldn’t last for long, though.

The Chargers were forced to punt on the ensuing possession and a fumbled snap gave Saginaw excellent field position. They scored a minute later to make it 26-8 following the two point conversion.

Neither team was able to make an impression on the scoreboard from that point as Dow held on for the win.

“I told the boys that I’m going to let them enjoy it now,” Watkins said. “But tomorrow during film session they may not appreciate me a few times. We’re here to learn. We’re here to get better, and lay a foundation for championships when these guys are the varsity.”

The Chargers improve to 1-3 on the season. They return to action Wednesday, October 1 when they travel to Bay City Central to take on the Wolves. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.