Bay City area SVL roundup Week 4: Defensive gem spoiled as Western falls 3-2

The Bay City Western football players had time to envision the entire game in their minds.

And things played out well for the Warriors in that arena.

But an unorthodox week got even crazier once the real game finally began, and it went as nobody could have foreseen.

The Warriors yielded only a fourth-quarter field goal yet suffered a 3-2 loss to Midland Dow in their always frenzied Saginaw Valley League North football rivalry.

"We've got to get our butts in the end zone," Western coach Chris Willertz said after his team was shut out offensively.

: Bay City area Week 4 scoreboard

The lead-up to the game was anything but typical. Not only did Western deal with the usual distractions of homecoming but Willertz was away for two days to tend to family matters. And 10 minutes before kickoff, the game was delayed by lightning.

The delay would stretch for two long hours, sending the Warriors into their upper gym in a difficult holding pattern.

"We played the game before the game," Willertz said. "Our defensive coaches ran through scenarios. They had the kids lay on their backs and visualize situations. We went through it play-by-play. We won 29-10 in the upper gym."

But little went as planned once they took the field for a 9:05 p.m. start.

Western took a quick 2-0 lead on a safety when Dow botched a punt and the ball bounded out of its end zone. But two points is all Western would get on this night.

The offense managed just 91 rushing yards and 67 passing, spending much of the game moving one step forward and two steps back through a series of penalties and negative-yardage plays.

"We played our hearts out, but we could not execute offensively," Willertz said. "Every play there was some missed assignment or something went wrong. I know there is a learning curve with our new offense. But the time has come to know the assignment and do the right thing."

Willertz singled out Chris Walter, Gage Meylan, Nick Doran and Carter Gushow for fronting a defense that did everything it could to give the Warriors a chance to win the game. They kept Dow out of the end zone all night and nearly notched their second shutout of the season.

"The defense was golden," Willertz said.

"We scaled back a bit on what we're doing defensively. To be able to simplify and perfect goes a long way. So we decided 'Let's take away the things (the opponents) do best and let's play with more confidence and composure.'"

Dow spoiled the party, however, getting a 30-yard field goal from Boston Diamond for the 3-2 lead late in the fourth quarter. Western responded with a drive inside the Dow 10-yard line before getting pushed back on third down. A go-ahead field goal attempt with 1:15 to play was blocked and Dow had scored a baseball-like win.

"It's been a crazy week. And for us to go out and perform and play hard, there's a lot to be said for that," Willertz said. "But we're doing the work and it's confounding when you're doing all that work and you're still not successful."

Nick Doran was 6 of 11 passing for 63 yards for Western, connecting with Noah Felan twice for 32 yards. Jason Stevens rushed for 47 yards on four carries and caught two passes for 21 yards.

The losses are difficult.

And the zeroes make them tougher.

For the third time in four games, Bay City Central failed to score a point and were blanked by Midland 49-0 in Saginaw Valley League North play.

"We had our struggles offensively again," Central coach Kevin Frederick said. "The guys are frustrated and disappointed. We need to figure out a way to move the ball and show some consistency."

Central (1-3, 0-2) trailed 28-0 by halftime and never got anything going offensively. The Wolves finished with just 20 yards of total offense for the contest, including 1 yard rushing.

Joseph Gibson was 4 of 7 passing for 13 yards, connecting twice with Cam Reed.

Noah Gracheck, L.J. Gallihugh and Alijah Campbell each rushed for two touchdowns as Midland (3-1, 2-0) punched in seven TDs on the ground. Zack Steger was 7 of 7 on PATs for the Chemics.

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