By By ERIKA PICKLES and SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES – Dowagiac 42, Niles 27. End of story.
It what may have been the final chapter of the storied Dowagiac-Niles rivalry, the Chieftains used a huge second half comeback to score the Big 16 Conference West Division victory.
The win also kept Dowagiac's playoff hopes alive. At 5-3, the Chieftains need only to defeat winless St. Joseph Friday night at Chris Taylor-Alumni Field in the regular season finale.
For the second week in a row, and the third time this season, Niles jumped out to a 14-0 lead, only to watch it quickly disappear after the first quarter of play.
Things looked bleak for the Chieftains, as senior linebacker and leading tackler Brandon Simmons was ejected on the first play from scrimmage.
The Vikings hit paydirt early when Lyle Watson, who had 105-rushing yards for 32 carries, ran it in for an eight-yard touchdown just 1:40 into the game.
Blaise Nsengiyumua added the extra point, to give Niles a 7-0 lead.
Dowagiac had just three plays on their first offensive possession before Niles' Marcus Aldridg picked off a pass. A five-yard face mask penalty set the Vikings up at the Dowagiac 49-yard line.
Nine plays and over six minutes later, Watson was in the end zone again for the Vikings. Nsengiyumua's kick was good, giving the Vikes a 14-0 lead.
Just when things started looking good for Niles, the Chieftains tightened up their chin straps and put together a long drive to put their first seven points on the board.
Senior quarterback David Stuppy called his own number from the one yard-line to cut the Vikings' lead to 14-7 following the Tony Black extra point.
The Vikings had possession of the football entering the second quarter, but Dowagiac got the ball back in its hands when Nick File intercepted a Jake Messner pass, to set the Chieftains up at the 37-yard line.
A penalty pushed Dowagiac back five yards, but a completed pass from Stuppy to sophomore Jamie Simpson put the Chiefs on the nine-yard line.
Another penalty pushed Dowagiac back to the 14, however, it took junior Jake Shelton one play to score the touchdown with 6:08 on the clock.
Black added the extra point to tie the game at 14.
This time it was Niles' turn to suck it up and drive down the field on Dowagiac.
A little over five minutes and nine plays later, Watson scored his third touchdown of the first half, this time from the two-yard line. Nsengiyumua adding the extra point to give Niles a 21-14 lead at the intermission.
Unfortunately, that's the last time Niles would see the end zone until the final play of the game.
The Chieftains at halftime decided that they needed to do something different on defense to slow down the Niles running back of Watson and Mason Stephenson.
So Dowagiac dusted off a defense that most of the players have never played and the seven seniors on the team hadn't run since they were freshmen.
The Chieftains opened the second half receiving the football and drove the length of the field to tie the score at 21-21 as Shelton scored his second touchdown of the night, this one on a 22-yard scamper less than a minute into the third quarter.
Shelton's touchdown run was set up by a 44-yard run through the Niles defense by Simpson.
On the ensuing kickoff, Niles' Nate Orr slipped as he started up the field, putting the Vikings in a hole at their own14-yard line.
On Niles' first play from scrimmage, a fumble forced by the Simpson allowed Michael Laylin, who started the game in street clothes due to illness, to return the Vikings' miscue 18-yards for a touchdown at the 10:16 mark.
Black's extra point was good, giving Dowagiac its first lead, 28-21.
Niles tried to get back into the game by driving the length of the field, turning the ball over on downs at the seven yard line.
Instead of kicking a field goal to cut the Chieftains lead to four points, Janicki decided to go for it on fourth and two.
Messner's pass was hauled in by Nick Etzcorn, but obviously out of bounds.
It took Dowagiac just one play to score its third touchdown of the third quarter as Simpson found a seem in the middle of the Niles defense and raced 93-yards to put the Chieftains up 35-21 with 3:28 remaining in the quarter.
The Vikes ran out of options as time wound down. Niles was forced to go to the air, which it did not have a lot of success with.
Following another Niles turnover, a File interception, Dowagiac turned the ball over to David Sayre, Simpson and Shelton.
The Chieftains capped the scoring when Shelton scored on a 22-yard run to put Dowagiac up 42-21 following Black's extra point kick.
Messner was unable to get the Vikings moving via the air as six of his passes fell incomplete in the final minutes of the game.
As the final seconds ticked away, Messner hooked up with Etzcorn, who headed down the Niles sideline for a 43-yard touchdown.
As Etzcorn reached the end zone the clock reached zero and the Dowagiac celebration began.
Simpson finished with 188 yards on just nine carries, while Shelton added 93 yards on 10 carries.
Dowagiac, now 2-1 in the West Division, will take on the Bears with a playoff spot hanging in the balance. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Dowagiac 7 7 21 7 - 42
Niles 14 7 0 6 - 27
N – Lyle Watson 8 run (Blaise Nsengiyumua kick)
N – Watson 5 run (Nsengiyumua kick)
D – David Stuppy 1 run (Tony Black kick)
D – Jake Shelton 6 run (Black kick)
N – Watson 2 run (Nsengiyumua kick)
D – Shelton 22 run (Black kick)
D – Mike Laylin 18 fumble recovery (Black kick)
D – Jamie Simpson 93 run (Black kick)
D – Shelton 1 run (Black kick)
N – Nick Etzcorn 43 pass from Jake Messner (no kick attempted)