The Dowagiac football game got quite a surprise when the MHSAA playoff pairings were announced on Fox Sports Detroit Sunday evening.

The Chieftains earned a playoff spot with a dramatic come-from-behind 49-46 win over Paw Paw in their regular season finale Friday night.

Dowagiac (6-3) trailed the Redskins 20-6 at halftime.

A week 9 shift in the number of qualifying teams moved Zeeland West down to Division 4 and changed the entire landscape of the playoffs.

Going into Friday night, most felt that Dowagiac could host the opening round of the playoffs against Wolverine Conference foe Plainwell.

Instead, when the pairings were released, Dowagiac was the No. 3 seed in Division 4, Region 2, District 1.

Zeeland West (9-0) will host Plainwell (5-4), while the Chieftains (6-3) will travel to Benton Harbor to face the 5-4 Tigers at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Benton Harbor advanced to the playoffs after beating Portage Northern 29-23 in overtime Friday night. The Tigers have defeated five Class A schools this season, including Lakeshore.

Benton Harbor is in the playoffs for the first time in school history. The story is even more amazing because first-year coach Elliot Uzelac was hired just two weeks before practice began for the 2015 season.

The Tigers won just four games over the previous eight seasons combined.

Friday night’s match up will be the fifth between the Chieftains since 1950. Dowagiac holds a 3-2 advantage in those meetings, including a 22-14 win in the last meeting in 2005.

Benton Harbor’s last victory over the Chieftains came in 2004 when the Tigers defeated Dowagiac 47-0 behind the efforts of current Detroit Lions running back Joique Bell, who finished with 364 yards of total offense and scored six touchdowns — four rushing, one passing and a kick return.

 

Hartford at Cassopolis

The Rangers are back in the playoff for the second straight season.

Cassopolis (7-2) will host Hartford (5-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The winner will face either Bridgman (8-1) or Gobles (5-4).

The Rangers and Bees met in the district championship game in 2014 with Bridgman winning 17-14.

 

Lakeshore at Edwardsburg

A pair of former Lakeland Conference schools will square off for the first time since 1988.

Lakeshore (6-3) will travel to Edwardsburg (9-0) Friday night.

The No. 7-ranked Eddies were state semifinalists last season.

Lakeshore earned a spot in the post season for the 18th straight year and has defeated Edwardsburg in 11 consecutive games.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.