NILES – The Dowagiac JV football team renewed an old rivalry Thursday night when it travels to Niles to take on the Vikings.

With Berrien Springs having a combined freshmen-JV team, the Shamrocks played the Dowagiac freshmen squad. Kalamazoo Central did not have a team for Niles to play either, so the two schools got back together on the gridiron for the first time since Dowagiac moved to the Wolverine Conference.

After a close first half, which had the Chieftains clinging to a 28-26 lead, Dowagiac took control in the second half and went on to win 66-26.

With the aid of four turnovers, the Chieftains scored 38 unanswered points.

“It was an overall team effort from offense to defense,” Dowagiac coach Matt Alward said. “The kids played well and it showed. We have to keep working to get better each week.”

 

Freshmen football

The Dowagiac freshmen football team was defeated by visiting Berrien Springs’ JV 44-28 Thursday.

Scott Hassle ran for a touchdown and threw a pair of scoring strikes to Brandon Winchester-Jones. He also had a 2-point conversion pass to Jared Hatch.

Winchester-Jones also scored a rushing touchdown.

“Defensively, the Chieftains played much better than the score would indicate,” Dowagiac coach Chad Perrin said. “Overall I am very pleased with our team’s effort. When faced with adversity and getting behind early, our kids could have quit, but instead they came out in the second half and made a game of it.”