The Dowagiac JV football team opened its season with a 26-0 loss to visiting Vicksburg Wednesday.

Offensively the Chieftains moved the ball well, but turnovers and penalties stalled many drives. Defensively they played well, but gave up several big plays on third down that allowed drives that should be over to continue.

“We saw some good things that we can build on and some things that need a little work, but overall this is a good group of kids and we believe that they will rebound from this loss and be a better team for it,” Dowagiac coach Chad Perrin said.

Due to technical difficulties, individual statistics and scoring were unavailable at press time.