Birmingham >> Time was running out at the end of the first half Friday night at Seaholm High School.

The host Maples had twice tried to punch the ball into the endzone, but came up a yard short. Head coach Jim DeWald called his last timeout. There really wasn’t much to debate.

Seaholm was going to end the half on a high note.

“We felt that if we put that in and were able to get a big stop to start the second half, that we’d be looking good,” said DeWald, whose team had just scored on its previous two possessions late in the half. “And it was so close. We ran a rocket toss and (Alejandro Rauth) had to reach the ball out over the goal line. We tell them never to do that, but he told me that he had to do it.”Rauth capped off the Maples’ fourth scoring drive of the half, giving his team a commanding, 28-7 lead over Troy at the break. Seaholm would go on to force a punt on the Colts’ first possession of the second half, stifling their offense the rest of the way en route to a 38-7 homecoming victory.

“That was a huge win for us,” DeWald said. “They’re a very good team. They showed some good stuff on offense. We put in a lot of work this week preparing for them and I think we did a pretty good job switching up some things, coverage-wise, to throw off their quarterback a bit. He’s a good player, so is their wide receiver (Peacock).”

With the win, Seaholm guaranteed itself of at least a share of its third-straight Oakland Activities Association Blue championship. The Maples are 5-0 in division play — and 6-0 overall. They handed Troy (3-3, 2-1 OAA Blue) its first league loss of the season.

The Maples’ defense was spot-on all game long against the Colts. It limited the visitors to just 93 total yards — including a measly 28 yards rushing.

“We weren’t getting much push and when we went outside, they pretty much chased us down,” Troy head coach Chris Frasier said. “They run a unique defense that is hard to prepare for. Their two backers (Kyle Moore and Rauth), they’re real physical and they set the edge well for their defense.”

Junior Patrick Hughes led a potent Seaholm offensive attack, opening up the scoring with a nine-yard touchdown run with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. He would cap things off with a two-yard score with just over two minutes left in the game.

Hughes also connected with Nathan Walsh for a 54-yard touchdown, one of three touchdowns the Maples scored in the final five minutes of the first half. Senior Kyle Moore scored on a six-yard run with 4:48 left to play — with Rauth scoring to end the half.

“Their offense was pretty much just as good as their defense,” Frasier said. “They blocked us where they wanted to go. Big props to Seaholm. With the effort they brought tonight, they just took it to us.”

Despite its troubles stopping Seaholm’s offense and its struggles moving the ball, the Colts were able to keep the game close early. Noah Oury hit fellow senior Jaielen Peacock for a 10-yard score early in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Oury finished the game 6-for-14 passing for 70 yards. Senior Greg Tester led the Troy defense with 11 tackles.

Seaholm kicker Wesley Billings was 4-for-4 on extra points and hit a 37-yard field goal for the Maples, who improved to 6-0 for the second time in three years. Despite losing 16 starters from last year’s 9-2 squad, this year’s team is picking up where last year’s team left off.

“It’s a cultural thing. Those kids, they get it. They understand our offense. They understand our defense. They understand our philosophy. They believe in it and they love it,” DeWald said. “It’s really good to see their hard work is paying off. You can have a good culture and you can put in all the hard work, but sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way.

“The defense is playing light’s out. Coach Spencer Adams is really dialing up things right now, the right blitzes at the right time. He’s always guessing right. All the credit really goes to he and those kids.

“Right now, things seem to be going our way. We’re running the ball efficiently and defensively, that’s really the story right now. We’ve had two shutouts and last week, our defense shut out (Farmington’s) offense. And tonight, we allowed just one touchdown to this Troy team.”

Seaholm will travel to North Farmington on Oct. 10. The Raiders defeated Oak Park, 19-18, Friday night to improve to 4-0 in the division.