Sports · Bay City
Midland Dow wins its fourth straight, 57-18 at Bay City Central
BAY CITY, Mich. — Bay City Central’s defense, fresh off a shutout, faced a Midland Dow offense on Friday, Oct. 9, that had scored 52 points the week before.
Central (2-4) is coming off its best night of the season, a 30-0 win over Saginaw United on Oct. 2, according to MaxPreps. It had lost three straight before that, including a 55-14 defeat at the hands of Mount Pleasant on Sept. 25.
Dow (4-2) has won three in a row. The Chargers beat Bay City Western 28-14, edged Traverse City Central 30-27 and then routed Traverse City West 52-24 on Oct. 2, MaxPreps results show. Their losses came early, 32-30 to Saginaw Heritage and 28-7 to Mount Pleasant.
Against West, receiver Emmett Olson caught passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, according to MaxPreps’ game report, which said Dow has won 12 of its last 15 games dating to last season.
That run includes a 10-2 finish in 2025 and a Division 2 district title, MLive reported before this season.
For Central, senior quarterback Paulino Perez carries much of the offense. He has six rushing touchdowns and three touchdown passes and averages 88 rushing yards a game, according to MaxPreps season statistics.
The two teams share a measuring stick: Mount Pleasant beat both. Central also lost 28-7 at Midland High on Sept. 18, the same Midland team Dow faces in its crosstown finale on Oct. 23.
On Oct. 16, Central hosts Traverse City Central, and Dow hosts Lapeer the same night.
Updated Oct. 12, 2026: Dow won 57-18 at Bay City Central, MaxPreps results show, its fourth straight win. The Chargers are 5-2; Central is 2-5. Records above are as of the week of the game.
Updated Oct. 13, 2026: The headline and summary were changed to report the result of the game this story previewed.
Sources:
MaxPreps, Bay City Central football team page and schedule, https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/bay-city/central-wolves/football/
MaxPreps, Midland Dow football team page and results, https://www.maxpreps.com/mi/midland/dow-chargers/football/
MaxPreps, “Football Recap: Dow Skates Past Traverse City West with Ease,” Oct. 3, 2026, https://www.maxpreps.com/news/_hQj1_Lrhk68BFs5AdJYpw/football-recap-dow-skates-past-traverse-city-west-with-ease--how-to-watch.htm
MLive, “Midland Dow enters 2026 football season in Wynn win situation,” August 2026, https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2026/08/midland-dow-enters-2026-football-season-in-wynn-win-situation.html
Photo: Michael Barera, “Highland Park vs. Royse City football 2017 05 (Highland Park on offense),” Nov. 3, 2017, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_Park_vs._Royse_City_football_2017_05_(Highland_Park_on_offense).jpg
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