By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC - Never before in the history of its program, has the Dowagiac varsity football team been ravaged by one player like it was Friday night by Benton Harbor's Joique Bell.
Bell amassed 364 yards in total offense all by himself in the visiting Tigers' 47-0 Big 16 Conference West Division opener for both teams.
Bell scored two rushing touchdowns, threw for a touchdown and returned a kickoff 92-yards as Benton Harbor beat Dowagiac in every phase of the game.
Both teams came into the contest with 1-3 records, however, it was Benton Harbor which seized control of the game in the opening minutes of the first quarter and never looked back.
Dowagiac set the tone early with a fumble on its first play from scrimmage, setting up Bell's 17-yard run.
Things didn't get better for the Chieftains, who turned the ball over four times on fumbles and had an interception.
Benton Harbor (2-3, 1-0) scored 22 points in the opening 12 minutes to take the wind out of Dowagiac's sails.
The Chieftains (1-4, 0-1) came into Friday night's contest at Chris Taylor-Alumni Field fresh from a 27-6 victory of Loy Norrix the previous week.
Phil Mitchell made it 14-0 Benton Harbor on a one-yard run and a two-point conversion run by Bell.
The Tigers completed the first quarter scoring on a 24-yard Bell run and two-point conversion. Bell completely hurdled Chieftain defensive back Jason Manley on his way to the end zone.
Things didn't get a whole lot better in the second quarter for the Chieftains as they continued to struggle on offense and turn over the football.
Jay McCree hauled in a 61-yard pass from Bell to make it 29-0 following Alonzo Gomez's first extra point kick of the season.
Bell started at quarterback for the Tigers in the first three games this season, but lined up in the backfield against Dowagiac while Larry Edwardsburg started at quarterback.
Bell then stunned the Chieftains once again, this time with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
As if that wasn't enough, he scored on runs of 10- and 20-yards to cap the scoring.
In all, Bell rushed for 183 yards, including more than 100 in the first quarter, passed for 75 yards and caught a pass for 14 yards, a spinning one-handed, over-the-shoulder reception.