With the postseason hanging in the balance, the Dowagiac football team rose up and fended off pesky Paw Paw 21-12 in the regular season finale at Chris Taylor-Alumni Field.

With the victory, the Chieftains secure a spot in the Michigan High School Athletic Association football playoff field.

Pairings were announced by the MSHAA Sunday night.

At 6-3, Dowagiac would appear to be headed toward a first-round road game.

Veteran Chieftain head coach Mike Stanger knew his team did not have to play perfect, but that it just needed to win.

In a game that was ugly at times, Dowagiac overcame a 12-7 halftime deficit to defeat Paw Paw, which finished the regular season at 4-5.

The Chieftains took the opening kickoff and drove it down the field to score on a 12-yard Duan Simpson run and a Drew Davis kick.

But Dowagiac was unable to keep the early momentum, and a pair of big plays allowed the Redskins new life.

Paw Paw closed the gap to 12-6 early in the second quarter on a 58-yard pass from Jimmy Wressel to Tyler Pursley.

The conversion attempt was no good, leaving Dowagiac with the 7-6 lead.

An interception returned for a touchdown gave the Redskins their only lead of the contest as Jared Popp stepped in front of a Brenden Dudley pass and race into the end zone to make it 12-7.

Stanger challenged his team at halftime, but did not make any real changes as far as scheme was concerned.

“The first half we made some mistakes,” Stanger said. “We did not finish some drives. We had turnovers. I thought our defense played well even though we had the one big play. Other than that, our defense held them the entire game.

“We changed nothing as far as Xs and Os. We challenged them to keep their heads up and to stay together. We faced tonight. We lose Duan at running back, we made some offensive mistakes and we gave up the big play on defense. The waters got rough. Tonight was about staying together. We talk about being a family. Tonight that had to be exercised.”

The Chieftain accepted the challenge as they came out and reclaimed the lead on 6-yard run by Jamin Hunt

Dowagiac’s defense continued to dominate in the second half and held Paw Paw scoreless over the final two quarters.

The biggest play was turned in by Logan Theis, who made a one-handed interception of a Wressel pass.

“That was a great interception,” Stanger said. “We played it how they practiced it. He stayed back, did not bite on the play action and then he dropped back and he got back into he dropped back and made a great play.”

The Chieftains sealed the victory when Kade Schreiber ran through a huge hole and scored from 18 yards out to make it 21-12.

“I was really proud of our offensive line,” Stanger said. “I thought they did an outstanding job. The second half we wanted to get back to the run.”

Hunt led Dowagiac with 68 yards on 11 carries, while Simpson had 62 yards on 10 carries before leaving the game with a knee injury.

Dudley was 6 of 12 for 76 yards and three interceptions.

Nate Harden led Paw Paw with 29 yards rushing on seven carries.

Wressel was 2 for 9 for 92 yards and an interception.

 

DOWAGIAC 21, PAW PAW 12

At Dowagiac

Paw Paw 0 12 0 0 – 12

Dowagiac 7 0 7 7 – 21

D – Duan Simpson 12 run (Drew Davis kick).

PP – Tyler Pursley 58 pass from Jimmy Wressel (conversion failed).

PP – Jared Popp interception return (conversion failed).

D – Jamin Hunt 6 run (Davis kick).

D – Kade Schreiber 18 run (Davis kick).

Varsity records: Paw Paw 4-5, Dowagiac 6-3.