PLAINWELL — Austin Adams rushed for 121 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Dowagiac football team defeated host Plainwell 42-14 in a Wolverine Conference contest Friday night.

The win was the second straight for the Chieftains, who improve to 4-2 on the year.

Dowagiac opened up a 28-0 lead on the Trojans in the third quarter only to have Plainwell score back-to-back touchdowns to cut the lead to 28-14.

The Chieftains responded with a pair of fourth quarter scores to put the game out of reach.

Anthony Nelson got Dowagiac on the scoreboard in the opening quarter as he scored from 37 yards out to make it 7-0 following the first of six Brett Scanlon extra points.
The Chieftains extended their lead to 14-0 on a 1-yard Steven Baylock run and then 21-0 on a 3-yard Adams scamper.

Dowagiac made its 28-0 in the third quarter when Troy Butcher found pay dirt from four yards away.

Plainwell made a run at getting back in the contest with a pair of third quarter scores.
Peter Gonzalez was responsible for both.

He caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Adam Tustin and then picked off a Mike Pranschke pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. Josh Nyberg tacked on both extra points to pull the Trojans to within 14 points.

Adams made sure that was as close as Plainwell would get and he scored both touchdowns for the Chieftains in the final quarter.

His first run was for 23 yards and his second was a 5-yard effort.

Dowagiac finished the night with 500 yards in total offense, including 470 on the ground.
Nelson led the rushing attack with 147 yards on 10 carries. Butcher finished with 75 yards on 10 totes.

Pranschke was a mere 2-of-12 for 30 yards.

Plainwell finished with 170 yards in total offense — 77 rushing and 93 passing.

Tustin was 5-of-14 for 87 yards and he had 46 yards rushing on 12 carries. Gonzalez finished with 37 yards on five carries.

Dowagiac 7 14 7 14 – 42
Plainwell 0 0 14 0 – 14
D – Anthony Nelson 37 run (Brett Scanlon kick)
D – Steven Baylock 1 run (Scanlon kick)
D – Austin Adams 3 run (Scanlon kick)
D – Troy Butcher 4 run (Scanlon kick)
P – Peter Gonzalez 39 pass from Adam Tustin (John Nyberg kick)
P – Gonzalez 80 interception return (Nyberg kick)
D – Adams 23 run (Scanlon kick)
D – Adams 5 run (Scanlon kick)