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DOWAGIAC — Dowagiac head coach Duane Davis said his team talked in great detail about needing to respond this week against Benton Harbor after its disappointing loss to Three Rivers last week. The Chieftains responded to the tune of a 69-12 victory over the Tigers Friday night in their home opener.

“Last week, we were terrible coming out in the first half,” Davis said. “We were slow, we were lazy, but the kids took it to heart. We were watching on film so tonight, they knew we had to come out and be fast and physical right off the bat and they did. They took the challenge and ran with it, so I’m proud of them for that.”

The Chieftains led 35-0 after one quarter and 56-6 at halftime. Skyler Vincek tossed two touchdown passes – to Cooper Szymczak (8 yards) and Caiden Freeman (18 yards) respectively – and had one 13-yard rushing touchdown. Hill (18 yards and 8 yards), Marcus Waares (20 yards), Tim Masterman (18 yards), Devin Rock (18 yards), Isaiah Weatherspoon (four yards) tallied rushing touchdowns and Devin Maddron turned defense into offense with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown. 

The 69 points scored by Dowagiac were the most for a Chieftains team since 1999, a 70-0 victory over the now-closed South Bend LaSalle. Kicker Johannah McDonald converted 9 of 10 extra points in Friday’s win, the most by a Chieftains player in one game since the win over South Bend LaSalle 26 years ago.

Byron Broyles found the end zone on a 3-yard run for the Tigers. In the second half, quarterback Damonee McBride connected with Messiah Lacy on a 30-yard touchdown strike. While the Tigers had the ability to move the ball, inexperience in the form of penalties and missed assignments often ended drives before they could begin.

“It’s just tough with the inexperience that we have, the execution on stuff,” said Benton Harbor coach Dan McGinnis. “The gap in football knowledge is what really is hurting us. You see we can move the ball but we’re just gonna make mistakes, not be in the right technique, not reading.”

McGinnis said that several of his starters on defense are playing football for the first time.

“We’re getting new guys to come in. We’ve got more numbers than we had before,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys. We just need football IQ and acumen to be able to be precise, so we’ll get it. You’ve only got six more games left. I like how my guys keep battling – we don’t give up. It was disappointing, but we didn’t give up, so I’m proud of that.”

Dowagiac owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and sophomore Khalif Reyna was a key reason why. The 6-2, 295-pound sophomore open holes for the offense and was a constant presence in the backfield on defense.

“He is a difference maker,” Davis said. “Not very many people are 6-2, 310 pounds and move the way he does, so we’re lucky to have him. He gets off the ball and he’s mean – he was ready for this game at noon, he was messaging me. He was excited and ready to go. He’s just a difference maker and we’re glad to have him.”

Davis and the Chieftains aim to take the momentum gained from Friday’s win into next week’s matchup against Marshall. Dowagiac traveled to Marshall last year and returned home with a 32-30 win.

“They’ve got a back that’s probably 220 pounds and we saw him last year. We beat them in a close one, so I know they’re going to have a little revenge on their minds. These kids know to treat this game as 1-0. Now, we’ve moved on to the Red Hawks. They don’t think ahead and they don’t think behind, so we’re already onto Marshall.”

“They’ve got a back that’s probably 220 pounds and we saw him last year. We beat them in a close one, so I know they’re going to have a little revenge on their minds. These kids know to treat this game as 1-0. Now, we’ve moved on to the Red Hawks. They don’t think ahead and they don’t think behind, so we’re already onto Marshall.”