By Staff
KALAMAZOO – Don't panic Chieftain faithful.
The final score may say that Dowagiac lost by 14 points last Friday night at the hands of defending Wolverine Conference champion Comstock.
But the final score does not tell the whole story in this contest.
Dowagiac was its own worst enemy on Friday night. The Chieftains turned the ball over five times and committed one costly penalty, which kept them from scoring its usual amount of points.
The Colts are a very good football team, let's not take anything away from them.
But let's be honest here, Comstock didn't stop the Dowagiac offense – the Chieftains did.
Dowagiac made too many mistakes to beat a good football team. We all know that. But all the mistakes that the Chieftains made are correctable.
Unlike last year when we went through a three-game losing streak, we can beat Comstock.
Back in 2005 we couldn't compete with Marshall and Lakeshore. We should have beaten Sturgis.
There was no physical mismatch between Dowagiac and Comstock Friday night. They are both good football teams. Unfortunately for the Chieftains, they just couldn't hold on to the football.
Dowagiac and Comstock could meet again in the post season.
The Chieftains need to take care of business the next four weeks and make sure they roll into the playoffs with a full head of steam.
Dowagiac needs two more victories to clinch a post season berth for the second consecutive season.
The Chieftains can take that first step on Friday night against Plainwell.
Dowagiac must remain focused and get back to playing aggressive, physical football – something that was missing on Friday night.
I can't think of a reason why the Chieftains cannot run the table the next four weeks and host a first round playoff game.
Dowagiac has not hosted a playoff contest since 1999.
First things first, the Chieftains need to beat Plainwell on Friday night and then start thinking about Gull Lake, Otsego and Paw Paw.
Now more than ever, Dowagiac needs to focus on one game at a time. There is no sense looking ahead.
The coaching staff and players are working hard this week to get back to the level of play we all got to see the first four weeks of the season.
This one little bump in the road is nothing more than that. It's one hurdle that this team didn't clear. So what! If they clear the other eight hurdles, that game won't even matter.
I know it's a long way to Plainwell, but let's not bail on the Chieftains now. Pack up your car, van or truck and head north to support our Dowagiac varsity football team.