VICKSBURG — Dowagiac senior D.J. Hunt has been waiting to play another
football game since Oct. 28, 2011.

That is the date he broke his leg as the Chieftains were about to head
into the post season.

It pained Hunt to watch from the sidelines as his teammates helped
propel the team to a district title.

Thursday night in Vicksburg, Hunt returned to the starting line-up and
helped Dowagiac open the 2012 season with a 21-7 victory over the
Bulldogs.

Hunt plays on both sides of the ball for the Chieftains and made an
impact throughout the contest.

“You can see when he plays linebacker he’s flying around,” Dowagiac
coach Mike Stanger said. “If we need tough yards, we give him the ball
and he grinds it out for us. He’s a tough kid. He’s worked hard and
that’s why he is tough. It’s because of the time and the effort he
puts in to be tough.

“He’s a captain. We rely on him a lot. We are going to continue lean on him.”

Hunt said he was excited to be back on the field, but he only gave
himself a C+ grade on his performance.

“I have been waiting for this since the day I went down,” he said. “It
was great to be back on the field with my brothers. When I went down
it hurt real bad seeing them out there going to war and me not being
able to be by their side. It was a real good feeling to get back on
the field today.

“I missed a few tackles and over pursued a bit, so I will give myself
a C or a C+,” he said.

After a scoreless first quarter, Dowagiac scored a pair of touchdowns
in the second quarter.

Brett Scanlon got the Chieftains on the board first with a 1-yard
touchdown dive, which was set up by his 29-yard run down inside the
1-yard line.

Dowagiac went 90 yards to score its next touchdown as Brendon Murray
went the final eight to make it 14-0. The big play in the drive was a
22-yard pass play from Cal Cox to Todd McIntyre.

The Chieftains made it 21-0 in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard run by
Murray. Scanlon connected on his third kick of the night and the
Chieftains were comfortably in front.

Vicksburg averted the shutout with an 8-yard pass from Caleb
Breitenbach to Brad Spieldenner.

Dowagiac 0 14 0 7 – 21

Vicksburg 0 0 0 7 – 7

D – Brett Scanlon 1-run (Scanlon kick)

D – Brendon Murray 8 run (Scanlon kick)

D – Murray 23 run (Scanlon kick)

V – Brad Spieldenner 29 pass from Caleb Breitenbach (Michael Moore kick)