Internal competition can be a good thing for a program sometimes, and this past Mid-State football season proved so for the Chelsea Youth Club.

After slowly growing from barely having enough players to field two teams eight years ago, the CYC decided to split its 9-10 year olds into two teams this year to have a total of six in the club. The split paid off, as the White and Blue teams combined for an 18-0 record against other communities.

The White (11-0) team got the best of the Blue (9-2) twice this season, beating them 19-6 in the regular season and 27-8 on Nov. 22 for the Mid-State Championship.

“That was one of the things, it really didn’t matter who won or lost, we knew Chelsea was going to win it,” White head coach Brett Wilson said. “It was great to be able to play against them in the championship, but it also tears your heart out, because these were your players and coaches before.”

Quarterback Chase Wilson put White on the board in the title game with a 2-yard quarterback sneak in the first quarter and snuck the ball in again for the extra point and 7-0 lead.

Wilson found Jayln Miller on a 40-yard pass in the second quarter to strengthen the lead, followed by a Blake Travelstead point-after run to send the White team into halftime up, 14-0.

Blue head coach Heath Moore said the game was a tight defensive game at the beginning, but he knew it would be a challenge with the athletes on White.

“It was one of those games we had to play flawless to win, but we had a few key fumbles and penalties,” Moore said.

White took advantage of some of the flaws to keep Blue out of the end zone. But even though Blue drove into White territory late in the game, it didn’t stop White from scoring.

Josh Issacks broke touchdown runs of 65 and 83 yards in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Travelstead converted one-of-two extra point run attempts in the second half.

“Once he gets in the open field, that joker’s gone,” Wilson said.

Blue scored late with a 30-yard run by Daniel Barnett. The 2-point kick by Anthony Jones was good. Aaron Ledbetter led the Blue defense.

Wilson said the secret to his team’s success was having Miller and Travelstead in the backfield to open either pick up yard or bust open holes for Isaacks. Also throwing blocks were offensive linemen Ben Haskins, Nate Posey, Kevin Fine, Nathan Wood, Jacob Christenson, Thomas Limbaghm and Jake Harkins.

Wilson also credited the success to team mother Paige Harkins and the Clubs’ support from Chelsea High School through field use and clinics. He hopes that will carry over to success years from now.

“(Our kids) know youth league is one step on the way of getting to that field on Friday night,” Wilson said.