EDWARDSBURG – It was a total reversal of fortunes for visiting Dowagiac and Edwardsburg as they played for the Wolverine Conference West Division championship for the second consecutive year.

Last season, the Chieftains were a senior dominated team that was relatively healthy and the Eddies were inexperienced and injured.

Coming into Friday night’s showdown, it was Dowagiac that lacked experienced and had battled injuries throughout the year, while the Eddies were a senior dominated squad.

The end result was a 36-0 victory for Edwardsburg and its first Wolverine West championship. The Eddies will now face undefeated Paw Paw on the road Friday night for the outright conference title.

Ironically, the same number of points went up on the scoreboard as in 2012 when the Chieftains captured a 28-8 victory over the Eddies.

And like last season, there was no doubt about the outcome of the contest early on.

Edwardsburg dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football and used that advantage on its first possession to take an 8-0 lead with a 15 play, 75-yard drive that ate up more than half of the opening quarter clock.

Jack Bywaters capped the drive with a 1-yard run. After the Chieftains jumped off-sides on the extra point attempt, the Eddies decided to go for two and quarterback Brett Bowman scored on the conversion run.

Second quarter scores by Jackson Gaideski (three yards) and Dante Razzano (11 yards) and the Eddies were well on their way to their first victory over Dowagiac since 1977.

Leading 22-0 at heading into the second half, Edwardsburg continued to pound the ball at Dowagiac, which ate up both yardage and time off the clock.

When the Chieftains did get the ball, they struggled to put together any type of drive. Quarterback Austin Broda was able to complete a few passes and pick up yardage by scrambling out of the backfield, but Dowagiac never threatened to cut into the Eddies’ advantage.

Edwardsburg scored a touchdown in each of the final two quarters to complete the victory.

Dylan Hulett scored from 30 yards out to make it 29-0 and Razzano, the back-up quarterback, called his own number and scampered in from 11 yards out to complete the scoring.

The Eddies finished the night with 403 yards in total offense as they rushed for 353 and threw for 51 yards. Edwardsburgs’ defense limited Dowagiac to 112 yards on the ground and another 94 through the air for 206 yards of total offense.

“I think Dowagiac came in with the idea of stopping our inside trap and they did for the most part,” Edwardsburg coach Kevin Bartz said. “But it gave us a lot on the edge and we took advantage of that.”

Much like Dowagiac, the Eddies spread the ball around offensively and ended up with five players who rushed for more than 50 yards. Hulett led the charge with 89 yards.

Broda, who was 8-of-20 through the air for 94 yards, rushed for 37 to lead the Chieftains (6-2).

“We didn’t do anything different,” Edwardsburg defensive coordinator and former Dowagiac coach Randy Brooks said. “I think we only called three different plays. We just executed and beat them off the ball.”

“Other than letting their quarterback scramble a few times wide, I thought we did an exceptional job defensively,” Bartz said.

Dowagiac coach Mike Stanger said that while his team never quite, there was no doubt about who the better football team was Friday night.

“They are a big, physical team,” Stanger said. “We knew that. We ran into a better team tonight. They are senior dominated and they beat us. We couldn’t stop them on defense and offensively we couldn’t get anything moving. That’s football. We have to be able to deal with it and learn from it.”

 

Dowagiac 0 0 0 0 – 0

Edwardsburg 8 14 7 7 – 36

E – Jack Bywaters 1 run (Brett Bowman run)

E – Jackson Gaideski 3 run (Tyler Treat kick)

E – Dante Razzano 11 run (Treat kick)

E – Dylan Hulett 30 run (Treat kick)

E – Razzano 12 run (Treat kick)