By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
It's showdown time in the Wolverine Conference.
Tonight near Kalamazoo, the Dowagiac Chieftains and Comstock Colts will battle for supremacy in the league.
Both teams enter tonight's contest with identical 4-0 records. The winner hops into the driver seat in the conference. The winner also moves within a game of clinching a playoff spot.
Dowagiac, ranked No. 10 in the latest Associated Press poll, is coming off a 42-6 victory over Allegan last Friday night. Comstock knocked off Paw Paw 42-7.
The Colts are the defending Wolverine Conference champions. Despite heavy graduation losses, Comstock has reloaded and is looking forward to being the first team to hand Dowagiac a league loss.
Tonight's game will be the first meeting between the Chieftains and the Colts since the 1999 playoffs.
Comstock defeated Dowagiac in the district championship game, 23-20, on a field goal in the closing seconds.
The Chieftains and Colts have pair of common opponents. Comstock defeated Vicksburg 43-20 in the opening game of the season, while they defeated Allegan 34-21 two weeks ago.
"This what Ohio State and Texas was to college football," Dowagiac coach Mike Stanger said about the importance of tonight's contest. "This is the equivalent of that in the Wolverine Conference. When Friday night ends, there will only be one undefeated team in the conference."
Stanger added that at the same time, for the loser of tonight's game, the season isn't over.
"It's not the end all," he said. "We don't want to over emphasize this to the kids. I think the kids look at it like they are just the next team on our schedule. They are the next team they have to beat to accomplish what they want to accomplish this year."
Dowagiac will face a totally different offense at Comstock on homecoming night. The Colts run the spread offense and like to throw the ball all over field.
"It's going to be an adjustment," Stanger said. "We are going to have to pressure the quarterback. We have to get a good pass rush and we have to stay in our lanes during the pass rush to stop the run game."
Stanger said the defense has been working hard and he feels that they are ready for the challenge.
One of the biggest keys for Dowagiac tonight will be eliminating the big play.
"They rely heavily on the big play," Stanger said of Comstock. "But with this offense comes the opportunity for us to get some quarterback sacks. We have seen some bad snaps out of the shotgun on film and we hope we can force some turnovers. I don't think they can drive it down our throats. So if we play good defense and don't have any blown coverages, then I think we can keep them from putting up some big numbers."
Stanger said another key will be the play of the Dowagiac offensive line.
"We need to control the football and keep our defense off the field," Stanger said. "We want to put together some long sustained drives."
The Chieftains have shown the ability to drive the football this season. Dowagiac has already gained 1,085 yards on the ground and another 267 yards via the passing game.
Junior Jamie Simpson continues to lead the team in rushing with 495 yards on 40 carries (12.4 yards per carry). Senior Jake Shelton is second on the team in rushing with 270 yards on 48 carries (5.6 yards per carry).
Quarterback Nick File is 15-of-28 for 267 yards and five touchdowns. File has thrown just two interceptions.
Tight end Chris Primley has been File's favorite target with nine receptions for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Opponents have gained just 436 yards on the ground and 339 yards passing for 775 yards in total offense.
The defense has been is led by senior inside linebackers Tim Bartee and Kyle Bailey, both of whom have 32 tackles. Outside linebacker Mike Laylin has 22 tackles. File leads the defensive backfield with three interceptions.
Dowagiac has forced 10 turnovers so far this season. The Chieftains have turned the ball over seven times.
The Chieftains have played well on special teams all year. Dowagiac has two touchdowns off of kickoff returns and are averaging 42.6 yards per return.
Place kicker Tony Black is 15-of-19 on extra point kicks and has made two out of this three field goal attempts. His longest so far this year is 27-yards.
Jake Cox has been solid punting the ball with an average of 34.2 yards per punt.
The Chieftains are pretty healthy coming into the contest. Defensive back/running back David Sayre is listed as questionable for tonight with an ankle injury sustained in the Vicksburg game.
Comstock, an honorable mention selection in the latest poll, will be led by a quartet of receivers.
Chris Perin, Bobbie Patton and Sam Stephens, all seniors, and junior Nate White, have combined for 706 yards and eight touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Tyler Burke is the man in charge of spreading the ball around. Not only can Burke throw the football, but he is dangerous as a runner as well.
When Burke isn't running the ball he likes to hand it off to senior Brandon Rickstad. Rickstad also is used as a receiver in the Colts' spread offense.
Directions to Comstock High School
Here are the directions to Comstock High School:
Take M-51 North to I-94 East. Take I-94 to the Sprinkle Road exit (No. 80) toward Cork Street.
Turn left onto Sprinkle Road and follow to East Main Street. Turn right on East Main and then left onto 26th Street.
Comstock High School will be on the right hand side of the road.