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BUCHANAN — For the first time in 13 years, the Dowagiac Chieftains are conference champions.

The Chieftains defeated the Buchanan Bucks 40-26 at Memorial Field on Friday night to clinch a share of the Lakeland Conference title with Buchanan. The victory, fueled by Dowagiac’s speed and physicality, creates a potential three-way tie for the title. Berrien Springs, who split games with Dowagiac and Buchanan earlier this season, can join them as co-champs with a win next week against Brandywine.

“It’s our brand of football,” said Dowagiac Head Coach Duane Davis. “When somebody wants to play our brand against us, I just hope we’re better at it and hope we can come out on top. Our guys took the game plan and went with it all week, and our game plan was to come out and be fast and physical. That’s what we do, that’s our brand, and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”

The loss is Buchanan’s second straight after losing 35-8 to Millington last week. Like last week, the Bucks’ defense struggled against a physical run team. The Chieftains out-gained Buchanan 421-252 in total yards, including a 351-90 edge on the ground.

“We played hard to the end,” said Buchanan Coach Mark Frey. “We’ve missed too many tackles, and a lot of those led to big plays. We’d get them into third and long and such and you miss tackles and they run a long way. You gotta be proud that we fought hard. Now you gotta share the conference title, which is unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

Buchanan initially took the lead in the first quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run by Max Cornelius to make the score 6-0 after a failed two-point conversion. Dowagiac then responded with a 32-yard run by Quentin Hill but the extra point was blocked, tying the game at 6-6.  Dowagiac closed out the first quarter scoring with a short touchdown run by Cameron White and a successful extra point from Johannah McDonald to give the Chieftains a 13-6 lead.

Dowagiac stretched its lead in the second quarter when Quentin Hill scored his second touchdown of the night on a 17-yard run, moving the score to 20-6. Buchanan kept the pressure on when Brody Reed hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from junior Cy Carlin, though the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, to make the score 20-12. 

The Chieftains answered right before halftime with a touchdown run by Devin Rock, and the successful extra point gave the team a 27-12 lead heading into the break.

“I think we did great,” Hill said. “We came out in the first half, did a great job on defense and offense. I love how the coaches trusted me in this game. They put the ball in my hand quite a bit. I always got to give credit to my line no matter what, they did their job.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Buchanan made it a one-possession game in the fourth after blocking a punt, leading to an 11-yard touchdown catch by Reed from Carlin. The successful two-point conversion cut Dowagiac’s lead to 27-20 with 7:15 remaining. When the Chieftains needed a play, they turned to Hill, who sealed the win for Dowagiac with his third touchdown of the night, a 52-yard run (extra point no good) that pushed the score to 33-20. On the next Dowagiac possession, Skyler Vincek connected with Devin Rock for a 40-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 40-20.

“The mentality was, as always, ‘We’re good, we’re good,’” Hill said. “We always come back with the same mentality no matter what. Even if we’re down, we know what’s going to happen, we’ll come back.”

The Bucks scored the game’s final points on a 6-yard pass from Carlin to Reed (conversion failed), resulting in the 40-26 final score.

“They just got a really good interior,” Frey said. “I think we could do most of what we did. We drove it right down on the first series and just couldn’t emulate that over and over. So once we were able to throw it a little bit and get on pace there, we were good, but again, it’s too little too late.”

Carlin completed 14 of 18 passes for 159 yards and three touchdown passes to Reed, who caught seven passes for 91 yards. Cornelius had 15 carries for 68 yards and one touchdown.

On defense, Reed and Ryan Hickok led the defense with six tackles each.

“He did a good job,” Frey said of Carlin. “I think he missed a couple things, but that comes with being new and he’s only gonna get better from here, so we’re proud of him. 

Davis credited his senior class, who have been with him since the seventh grade and helped transform the program.

“That group has been with me since they were seventh graders when I first got the job,” Davis said. “They were right there with me in the weight room, not giving up and continuing to grind. They saw the bad right at the beginning, and they were like, ‘coach, we’re going to help. We’re going to keep coming’ and they did. They put time in the weight room and this is what happens.”

The Bucks aim to regroup from their second straight loss and get back on track next week against Benton Harbor. Frey said the team will do whatever it takes to turn things around.

“When you drop two in a row like that, you’ve got to figure out what’s going wrong and you have to fix it,” Frey said. “I think that’s going to be the goal tomorrow is to just sit down and say, ‘hey, what’s not working’ and if that’s personnel changes or whatever, we have to figure it out. We’ve got two games to figure that stuff out before the playoffs.”

Davis knows there is more work to be done in order for the Chieftains to reclaim its status as a contender. The quest continues next week as the Chieftains travel to face undefeated Division 4 power Williamston next week.

“If I’m being honest, I’m not satisfied,” Davis said. “We’re in year five with me. I figured we’d be ahead of the game and we make too many mistakes at times. We have mental lapses and again, that’s on me and I’m going to fix it. I am glad where we’re going; the trajectory of the football team—I’m very happy with it. There are still things I’m disappointed in and the guys share the same idea that I share.”