Football: Cardinals end Chemics’ Cinderella season

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A season that began with lofty expectations and state title hopes ended in heartbreak Friday, when Davison forced Midland High from the playoffs in a 25-19 contest in the Regional Championship at Midland Community Stadium.

“They’re disappointed. We all are,” said Midland coach Eric Methner. “I’m proud of how hard they played. They battled. They fought. We just had some things that we couldn’t overcome tonight.”

The Cardinals power-rushing attack wore down the Chemics in a second half controlled by Davison. The duo of Jake Thompson and Oliver Saylor combined for all three touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to redemption after Midland forced Davison from the playoffs last year in a 7-3 contest.

Thompson got the Cardinals on the board on their first drive of the game, when facing a 4th and six on the Chemic 21-yard line he found Daniel Thwing wide-open behind the Midland secondary for a score. William Nicolai’s extra point made it 7-0.

The Chemics answered right back when Andrew Maxwell led them on a time consuming drive that covered the length of the field and culminated in a 25-yard scoring strike to Drew Moulton with 3:37 remaining in the first. The extra point attempt was no good leaving it 7-6.

From there, Midland controlled the game on the field for the duration of the half, but they didn’t control the scoreboard.

Another Chemic scoring drive threatened to give them the lead, but a field goal attempt was wide-right.

Midland defense responded on the next play though, as Moulton stepped in front of a Thompson pass giving the Chemics the ball on the Davison 38. But Midland couldn’t generate any points.

A little trickery seemed to be just the key though.

On their next possession, the Chemics went for the old hook and latter. Maxwell’s pass drilled Moulton right between the numbers, who then flipped the ball to a crossing Michael Albrecht at the Midland 47-yard line. Albrecht raced past the Cardinals defense all the way down to the Davison 14 where he was dragged out of bounds.

He wasn’t denied on the next play though as Maxwell threw a strike in the corner of the end zone and Albrecht was able to toe the corner for a score. The two-point attempt was no good, but Midland still had a 12-7 lead it would carry into the second half.

But it was a second half that would be all Davison, as the Cardinals offensive line and power runners laid the wood to Chemic defenders.

“Their offensive line wore us down,” Methner said. “The defense was on the field the entire half, it seemed like.”

That proved to be true after a Chemic turnover gave Davison the ball in Midland territory midway through the third. And Saylor plunged in from two yards out at 3:28 to give the Cardinals a 15-12 lead following Thompson’s successful two-point conversion.

Thompson added a score of his own, less than two minutes into the fourth to make it 22-12 Davison. And Nicolai’s 27-yard field goal with 4:19 remaining dug the Chemics into a hole.

“I thought our defense battled and played their tails off, I really did,” Methner said. “We just didn’t capitalize for them offensively and keep them off the field.”

Following the field goal, Midland used its lightening quick playmakers to move down the field, but they couldn’t break the plane and turned the ball over on downs with 2:39 remaining.

The Chemics would only get one more opportunity, and they tried their best to make it count as Maxwell threw up a desperation toss into traffic that bounced off a Cardinal defender and into the waiting arms of Moulton for a 33-yard score with :29 remaining to make it 25-19 following the PAT.

The hands teamed lined up for one last-ditch effort to get the ball back. Gagnon’s onside attempt struck the turf and bounced high into the arms of Cardinal’s defensive end Cory Goble.

And just like that, the Chemics’ season was over.

Midland ends its season with a 10-2 record and second-straight district championship.

“I just feel very fortunate to have been able to coach the guys that I have,” Methner said. “I’ve been around all these guys and it’s been a pleasure to have been able to coach them. They were a great group to have.”

Davison improves to 9-3. The Cardinals advance to the state semi-final at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing where they will take on the Muskegon Big Reds. Muskegon advanced by trouncing Lowell 49-14. The winner will advance to play for a state championship at Ford Field.