By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac varsity football team is expecting big things this season – it's first in the Wolverine Conference.
The Chieftains kick off a new era in its storied history on Friday night when it travels to South Haven for its season opener.
Dowagiac is coming off a 6-4 season in which it qualified for the Michigan High School Athletic Association playoffs for the first time since 2000.
Dowagiac returns 17 players who started in the playoff game against Paw Paw last October – 10 seniors and a junior.
The Chieftains also have nearly 40 players on this year's roster, which should provide some much needed depth.
Dowagiac doesn't have a mountain of notes about South Haven, but the coaching staff does now that they have talent.
"They (South Haven) are going to mix it up on offense," Dowagiac coach Mike Stanger said. "They are going to run four or five offensive sets. They will run some wing like we do and they are going to run some shot gun with a back on either side of the quarterback. Their bread and butter offense when they need those tough yards is the wishbone."
Stanger said that his staff has seen the Rams scrimmage and he feels that they are as prepared as they can be for Friday night's season opener.
"Unless they come out and just throw something at us that we haven't seen, I feel we have them scouted pretty good," he said.
The Rams will also mix things up on defense.
South Haven will show both odd and even defensive fronts against Dowagiac's Wing-T offense.
"We have to handle their middle linebacker (Drakkar Klose)," Stanger said.
South Haven will have an inexperienced offensive line protecting a young quarterback. The Rams will mix up their running backs, so Stanger isn't sure who their best ball carrier is.
"Defensively we have to stop the wishbone," he said. "We have to contain their running game. They have big play potential like a Benton Harbor, so we have to be disciplined on defense."
Dowagiac has been preparing for its season opener since Aug. 7. Stanger said he believes the team is ready.
"I believe we are," answered Stanger when asked if his squad was ready for Friday night. "That's the scariest point right now for me because I believe we are ready. But I can't get inside their heads to know if they are ready. I can only go by what I have seen and they look ready to go and they are chopping at the bit."
Stanger thinks that his biggest fears about the how prepared the team is comes from the fact that for the first time in his four years he has a veteran squad.
"I believe that's it," he responded when asked about coaching a team filled with returning players. "I haven't been in this position. I haven't had a team with this much experience."
Dowagiac will enter the game as healthy as it can be coming out of preseason drills.
The only player who will not be playing Friday night is Ryan Laylin, who has an injured shoulder and his availability is week-to-week.
"We hope to have him back for the Three Rivers game next week, but we just don't know," Stanger said.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.