Midland holds off Central, drops Trojans to 1-4

Sep. 24—TRAVERSE CITY — Midland wanted it. Traverse City Central needed it.

The Chemics (4-1) outlasted the Trojans (1-4) for a 21-17 Saginaw Valley League victory Friday at Thirlby Field, putting Central's playoff hopes precariously in the balance. It's the Trojans' first four-game losing skid since 2009.

"We had a chance to win the game," Central head coach Eric Schugars said. "We just couldn't quite make enough plays."

The Trojans led 17-14 with 6:31 remaining on a Reed Seabase 2-yard TD run that was pushed over the line by teammates Ben Rice, Owen Meyer and Brayden Halliday after a 10-play, 53-yard drive.

Midland retaliated with an eight-play drive in under three minutes, capped off by Mason Weaver's 2-yard TD plunge for a 21-17 lead with 3:37 remaining.

Schugars said he thought the Chemics left them too much time, but a big loss on a tackle by Midland's Logan Ware and Nick Moody put the Trojans in a big hole that Central nearly dug itself out of. Halliday lofted a fourth-and-17 pass over the middle to Seabase that was tipped by a Chemics defender. Seabase adjusted and still caught the ball, but he lost momentum in doing so and was taken down shy of the first down with 1:45 remaining on a night in which he was crowned homecoming king.

One first down run by Colin Coffee, and the Chemics brewed up a win.

"Six minutes to go in the fourth quarter and to put together that drive that they did? "It was gut check time and the kids stepped up," Midland head coach Eric Methner said of his team.

The setback drops TC Central to 1-4, a season after going to the Division 2 state championship game. Midland improves to 4-1.

"My heart goes out to the kids and our seniors," Schugars said. "This is tough. No one expected 1-4, I'll tell you that. But we're so darn close. It's hard to keep saying that to the kids, but we are. We are close. We just need to get over the hump and get that win and then just get momentum from there."

Central pulled within four to trail 14-10 on a Mack Shane 27-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the third quarter.

Midland quarterback Jason Davenport threw for 116 yards on 10/12 passing and ran for another 86 yards. Coffee ground his way to 76 yards and a TD, and Jalen Brown rushed for 76 and a score.

"Tough place to play, up here," Methner said. "They are a great program. Eric does a great job with his team, year in and year out. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. We made some mistakes, but we also made some plays when we needed to."

Brayden Halliday, starting for injured Central quarterback Josh Klug at quarterback, completed 10 of 17 throws for 103 yards and a TD. Alex Bocardo ran for 59 yards on seven carries, and Seabase added 56 yards on six totes. Seabase also caught five passes for 59 yards, and Shane hauled in two for 25 yards.

Seabase made 15 tackles on defense, with junior Brayden McCoon making 12 stops, Grandt Schmidt eight, Glenn Moore and Arthur McManus seven each, and Halliday six.

"Inside linebacker spot and he's leading the defense as a junior, " Schugars said of McCoon. "He's come a long way in five weeks. He's showed a lot of growth and just a lot of toughness today."

Central scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on a Halliday 6-yard TD pass to Seabase and a Mack extra point after Arthur McManus recovered a Chemics fumble at the 9.

Midland scored two second-quarter TDs, the first on a Jalen Brown run off right tackle at 7:00 and Coffee bulling his way up the middle for a 29-yard score 39 seconds before halftime.

The Chemics outgained TC Central in yards 201-74 in the first half, although the Trojans saw a Halliday 51-yard TD pass to Alex Bocardo wiped out by a penalty between Midland's first-half scores. Shane kicked a 27-yard field goal to pull the Trojans within less than a TD with 4:48 left in the third, as a Seabase 47-yard run defined the drive.

Central came in with a 5-9 record against Midland, including playoff wins in 2020 and 2017.

Central's opponents through four games were a combined 14-2. Midland's were 7-9, with over half that total coming from Mt. Pleasant (4-0).

"Seven of the teams we play on our schedule were playoff teams last year," Methner said. "Four or five of them went past the second round, so we have a tough schedule. We have a nice mix of seniors, but we also were playing four or five sophomores and our young guys are getting better. They're starting to play like upperclassmen."

This actually isn't the first meeting between the Trojans and Chemics in league action. The two were in the now-defunct Arrowhead Conference (along with Alpena and Bay City Handy, whose high school closed in 1990) from 1953-60, with Midland dominating the series 7-1 in that span. Since, Central posted a 4-2 mark, including 3-1 in postseason matchups, winning playoff games in 2020, 2017 and 1983.

Central lost three in a row for the first time since 2009, a streak that went to four that season at the hands of Midland Dow. This time, Midland High made it four.

Central brings in Midland Dow (3-2) next Friday, hosting back-to-back SVL matchups against the two Midland squads before consecutive Fridays in Bay City against BC Central (1-4) and BC Western (3-2). Dow won 27-20 Friday against Traverse City West (1-4).

Follow @Jamescook14 on Twitter.