The Dowagiac freshmen football team improved to 4-0 Thursday afternoon with a 43-12 win over visiting Battle Creek Pennfield.

Brendon Murray led the Chieftain offense with 97 yards on eight carries and a pair of touchdowns.

Murray also had 70 receiving yards.

Curtis Johnson finished the game with 61 yards rushing on just two carries and a pair of touchdowns.

Brett Scanlon and Derek Stark also had touchdowns, while Todd McIntyre added a pair of 2-point conversions.

Michael Smith led the team in tackles with eight.

“We made a lot of mistakes offensively in the first half but our defense held on to the lead,” Dowagiac coach Tony Scaccia said. “We played well on both sides of the ball in the second half against a pretty good football team.”

JV football
The Dowagiac junior varsity football team dropped its second straight contest Thursday night, falling to visiting Allegan 42-26.

The Chieftains trailed 21-6 at the intermission.

“Allegan was able to take the running game away from us early and the defense gave up big plays, that was the story of the game,” Dowagiac coach Matt Alward said.

The Tigers scored on a kick return for a touchdown and added a pair of long scoring runs in the contest.

The Chieftains were able to throw the ball a bit at Chris Taylor-Alumni Field as Sam Courtney hit Dontell Highsmith and Dan Crandall for scoring strikes.

Highsmith also rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

“Even though the scoreboard did not go in our favor I was proud of the way our young men for the way they battled in the second half getting within one score twice,” Alward said. “We have to build on that and look forward to playing Comstock.”