PAW PAW — A 16-point second quarter by Dowagiac’s football team was enough scoring for its stingy defense Friday as the Chieftains rolled past No. 4 ranked (Division 4) Paw Paw, 33-13, to give Dowagiac a share of the Wolverine Conference title with Paw Paw.

It’s the first-ever Wolverine Conference title for the Chieftains, who end the regular season 8-1 overall and in the league.

“It means the world to me,” said Dowagiac coach Mike Stanger about winning the Wolverine Conference title. “They’re great kids. These kids have believed in themselves all year. Even when you go back to week three when we lost to Vicksburg, 6-3, our kids never wavered, hung their heads or doubted themselves. They believed in what the coaching staff was telling them. We dress 27 kids and I wouldn’t trade them for anybody else’s 50 or 60.”

Tied at seven with Paw Paw, Dowagiac scored 16 points in less than four minutes to take a 23-7 lead with 6:44 left in the second quarter. The scoring flurry began with Brett Scanlon’s 32-yard field goal with 10:08 left in the second quarter. Seven seconds later, Cal Cox returned an interception for a score to give Dowagiac a 16-7 lead. The extra-point was blocked. The next time Dowagiac got the ball, Cox tossed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Brendon Murray.

Cox threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Todd McIntyre to give the Chieftains a 7-0 lead with 3:38 remaining in the first half.

In the first half, Cox and Scanlon, who share Dowagiac’s quarterback duties, completed 5-of-13 passes for 114 yards.

“We knew that (Paw Paw) was going to load the box,” Stanger said about his team’s passing attack. “They’ve run that defense against us the last five years. We thought if they were going to load the box that we were going to have to throw it. We worked on it all week.”

Paw Paw grabbed the momentum to start the second half after Marquis Gill returned the opening kickoff 69 yards to give the Redskins the ball at Dowagiac’s 30-yard line. But the Chieftains wouldn’t let that special teams play hurt them as Paw Paw was held on downs at Dowagiac’s 28-yard line.

The Redskins did take advantage of a Chieftains’ lost fumble in the third quarter. After getting the ball at Dowagiac’s 6-yard line, Paw Paw used two plays and scored on Gill’s 2-yard touchdown run to pull within, 23-13, with 5:13 left in the third quarter.

The Chieftains then put together their biggest drive of the season. Dowagiac went 70 yards on nine plays with the drive ending on an 11-yard touchdown run by D.J. Hunt with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

“That was huge,” Stanger said. “It goes back to the kids believing in themselves and trusting the game plan. Football is such a game of emotion and I couldn’t be prouder of these kids.”

The final scoring of the game came on a 29-yard field goal from Scanlon with 1:57 left in the game.

Dowagiac’s defense put together another fantastic performance. The Chieftains held down a potent Redskins offense that had totaled 307 points entering Friday’s game. Paw Paw was held to 131 yards, including -14 rushing. Dowagiac has now allowed only 67 points on the year.

“I don’t think we’ve gotten the respect (on defense) that we deserve,” Stanger said. “That was our motivation.”

Dowagiac rushed for 203 yards with Derek Stark leading the way with 60 yards on the ground on 10 carries.

Paw Paw quarterback Brett Boven completed 13-of-33 passes for 145 yards with one touchdown.

“We didn’t play very well, but give credit to those guys,” Hessler said. “I told our team we have to have a short memory and reload. We’ll be all right for next week.”

Dowagiac 7 16 7 3 – 33

Paw Paw 7 0 6 0 – 13

D – Todd McIntyre 30 pass from Cal Cox (Brett Scanlon kick)

P – Bobby Yarbrough 26 pass from Brett Boven (Grant Lewis kick)

D – FG Scanlon 32

D – Cox 25 interception return (kick blocked)

D – Brendon Murray 43 pass from Cox (Scanlon kick)

P – Marquis Gill 2 run (run failed)

D –D.J. Hunt 11 run (Scanlon kick)

D – FG Scanlon 29