Dowagiac’s Anthony Nelson (8) rushed for 132 yards Friday night and scored two touchdowns in the Chieftains’ 46-10 win over Gull Lake. (The Daily News/Ron Harner)

By DON EDEN

Dowagiac Daily News

Wolverine conference combatants Richland Gull Lake and Dowagiac met Friday evening and after a quick opponent lead the Chieftains put a full Nelson hold on the Blue Devils with a 46-10 victory.

Gull Lake (2-5) had the gall to execute a perfectly placed onside kick to begin the game and five plays later junior quarterback Jordan Mitchell found senior Zach Fish alone to net a 12-yard scoring play with not even two minutes gone from the clock.

“Our beginning was good and the quarterback (Mitchell) makes plays, which is why he is in there,” explained Gull Lake coach Mark Blaesser. “The trouble all year is a fast start then go down.”

Senior Anthony Nelson and sophomore Brett Scanlon respectively ran and kicked Dowagiac (5-2) into the lead the rest of the first half.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first stanza Scanlon successfully booted a 26-yard field goal after a first and goal from the eight stalled with three passes finding the ground instead of a receiver.

The visitors would match the field goal three minutes later and put a stop to their scoring with a 36-yard boot from junior Josh Kolb.

“Every game is 48 minutes so we need to come out hungry from the beginning,” Chieftain coach Mike Stanger said. “This senior group has fine leaders and they know how to bounce back with the three on our offensive line doing a very nice job tonight.”

Nelson and classmate Steven Baylock bounced defenders on consecutive plays midway through the second stanza as the former rambled 42 yards to the ten where the latter promptly found pay dirt and Scanlon had no trouble tying the score at ten points each. Scanlon had a 45-yard punt downed at the one to back the Blue Devils preceding the touchdown.

“The entire offensive line had good blocks and just ran through the hole, because they get all the credit for my yards,” Nelson said. “I have known all these guys all my life and enjoy playing football as our chemistry is good.”

With only 26.8 seconds before intermission Nelson gave Dowagiac and his mates the lead for good from one yard and a Scanlon conversion upped the score to 17-10.

The Chieftains had 22 carries for 135 yards at halftime with Nelson achieving 80 on nine carries and Mitchell threw 17 passes for 82 yards, but Dowagiac sophomore Derek Stark intercepted an aerial with 1:21 left to set up the Nelson score with a 20 yard return.

Fish reached the century mark on rushing (67) and receiving (33) yards for Gull Lake.

After the halftime homecoming festivities the senior class put up all the touchdowns in the second half with Austin Adams being the lone scorer in the third quarter after a 17-yard untouched sweep after nearly four minutes.

In a span of two minutes early in the final stanza Nelson and Troy Butcher each crossed the goal line with a one-yard plunge and a 47-yard interception return respectively. Nelson was chasing Mitchell on the pick six.

“I like playing defense so I can hit people,” beamed Nelson. “Now we will get ready for Otsego (also 5-2) so we can make the playoffs.”

Scanlon was sizing up a 44-yard field goal in the last minute, but an errant snap caused Adams to pass and found Colin Tidey alone for the final tally. Another bad snap caused Adams to run for two points.

“We wanted (Brett) Scanlon to get experience in games kicking long field goals even though he has kicked 60 yarders in practice and I apologized to coach Blaesser after the game,” stated Stanger. “On a bad snap we yell “fire” which is a play we can use.”

Nelson finished with 132 of the 277 yards rushing for the victors with Butcher gaining 54 as nine players total had carries. Gull Lake was held to 43 total yards in the second half with 25 coming on a Mitchell scamper after eluding tacklers out of the end zone.

“We only has eight offensive plays in the third quarter and you can’t win that way,” said Blaesser. “Our effort was good against a tough team and hope the players come out to finish out the season on a good note.”

Dowagiac had a total of fourteen first downs to nine for the visitors, but were penalized almost double with a 60-33 margin in yards

“Homecoming will be a fun time for this school and they deserve it,” concluded Stanger. “The playoffs will still be hard to get with Otsego and Paw Paw, so we need to buckle down.”

Gull Lake 10 0 0 0 – 10

Dowagiac 3 14 7 22 – 46

GL – Zach Fish 12 yard pass from Jordan Mitchell (Josh Kolb kick)

D – Brett Scanlon 26 yard field goal

GL – Kolb 36 yard field goal

D – Steven Baylock 10 yard run (Scanlon kick)

D – Anthony Nelson one yard run (Scanlon kick)

D – Austin Adams 17 yard run (Scanlon kick)

D – Nelson one yard run (Scanlon kick)

D – Troy Butcher 47 yard interception return (Scanlon kick)

D – Colin Tidey 26 yard pass from Adams (Adams run)