By RICK SWANSON
Dowagiac Daily News

PAW PAW – The Dowagiac Chieftains traveled a short distance to Paw Paw for their last regular season game, and by the end of the night, Dowagiac beat the Redskins, 35-7, in a convincing win and showed they deserve to be in the MHSAA playoffs.

“This is big – we did not want to hit a speed bump,” Dowagiac coach Mike Stanger said about the Chieftain win.

After a slow start and thanks to two Paw Paw fumbles, junior Troy Butcher ran the ball three yards into the end zone at 6:10 of the first quarter for the first six Dowagiac points.
The extra point by freshman Brett Scanlon was good; just the first time Paw Paw would hear from him.

Scanlon had the play of the game at 10:11 of the second quarter when he connected on a 45-yard field goal.

“We knew he had that (in him)” Stanger said after the game.

As the captain of the Dowagiac freshman team, he was moved up to the varsity squad this week for this game and the playoffs. For the night, he kicked two additional extra points and a 33-yard field goal bringing his total to nine points for the night.

Senior Jon Myers ran the football into the end zone twice. The first time was at 3:10 to go in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run, bringing the score to 16-0. Scanlon kicked the extra point.

Scanlon would finish the first half scoring on a 33-yard field goal bringing the score to 20-0 to close out the first half.

Junior quarterback Austin Adams rushed for a 15-yard touchdown run at 5:12 in the third quarter. Scanlon added the extra point for a score of 27-0.

At 4:30 of the third quarter, the Chieftains marched 75 yards down the field on nine plays when Myers took the ball in from the 15-yard for a touchdown.  He was then called on to complete the two-point conversion, to bring the score to 35-0, initiating a running clock.
Paw Paw was missing two vital members of the team due to injuries.

Junior quarterback Andrew Buskirk was out due to a collapsed lung suffered two weeks ago in a game against Vicksburg.

They were also missing junior running back/ linebacker Eric Williams, who leads the Redskins in total tackles for the year.

These injuries hampered the Paw Paw offense, which was unable to get into a rhythm in the first half, finishing with negative 33 yards, and ending the night with a total of 27 yards.

They were, however, able to complete a four down series late in the fourth quarter for a 10-yard touchdown pass by senior Raleigh Rushing.

The Dowagiac defense was credited for seven sacks for a total of 45 yards lost.
“The defense was outstanding,” Stanger commented.

Senior Cody Nowak led the team with six tackles and four sacks, including three consecutive.

Junior Anthony Nelson followed Nowak with five tackles and two sacks. Sixteen Chieftains were credited with defensive statistics.

The 8-1 Chieftains will travel to Hamilton to take on the 8-1 Hawkeyes on Friday night at 7.

Dowagiac 7 13 15 0 – 35
Paw Paw 0 0 0 7 – 7
D – Troy Butcher 2 run (Brett Scanlon kick)
D – Scanlon 45 field goal
D – Jon Myers 1 run (Brett Scanlon kick)
D – Scanlon 33 field goal
D – Austin Adams 15 run (Brett Scanlon kick)
D – Fumble recovery (run good)
PP – Julian Butler10 pass to Raleigh Rushing