OTSEGO – The Dowagiac freshmen football team was defeated by host Otsego 26-8 Wednesday.

The Chieftains’ lone touchdown came on a 70-yard kickoff return by Jared Hatch. Scott Hassle tossed a pass to Brandon Winchester Jones for the 2-point conversion.

Big plays, turnovers and penalties hindered Dowagiac’s chances according to coach Chad Perrin.

“We give a lot of credit to Otsego for stepping up and capitalizing on our mistakes,” he said. “As always, we will learn from our mistakes and move on. Due to some scheduling conflicts we get another chance at Otsego in week nine. We will be throwing down the challenge to our team to make sure this does not happen again.”