Midland-Dow Preview, What to Expect in the 54th City Championship Football Game

Midland, MI - This Friday, October 20th, will be the 59th City Championship game between the Midland Chemics and the H.H. Dow Chargers at Midland Community Stadium.

Midland won 14-6 in last season's game, en-route to making the regional round in the Division 2 playoffs. Dow’s last win came in 2021, a 25-0 shutout. MHS has the advantage all-time at 42-16.

This season, the Chemics are 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Saginaw Valley League. The Chargers are 4-4 with a 3-2 mark in conference. Midland locks down a playoff berth with a victory.

Both teams have a run-first attack. Senior running back Jalen Brown and quarterback Isaiah Henderson for Midland each rank, top five in the SVL North in rushing yards.

Brown has 721 yards and nine touchdowns on just 98 rushes. His 7.4 yards per attempt is the second-highest among rushers with at least 90 carries.

Dow quarterback Jacob Jensen has 13 touchdowns, nine rushing. The 6’2 180-pound senior has 1009 total yards, 458 on the ground.

Senior Tyler Streeter and sophomore Garlands Randolph have combined for 13 scores. Streeter has four receiving and three rushing. All six of Randolph’s are rushing tallies.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Chargers defense has given up the least amount of yards in the SVL North. The Chemics defense will have senior Merrick Hocking start at linebacker on Friday night. Hocking will be wearing a cast in-game and has limited time this season due to a finger injury.

At the helm for Midland is Eric Methner, this will be his 20th Dow-High game as the head coach.

“It is a stressful game,” stated Methner. “It’s the red-letter game of our city, I anticipate a slugfest in the trenches.”

Matt Peterson will coach in his fifth City Championship for Dow. Peterson, a Heritage graduate and former coach with the Hawks, is the fifth man to coach the Chargers since 1970.

“You don’t really understand what the game means until you’ve been in it,” said Peterson. “Our guys have been talking about this Friday since last year.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m., with pregame coverage starting at 6:50 p.m. following The Payoff on Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. The High School Football Game of the Week is presented by The Forward Corporation.