By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The goal remains the same for the Dowagiac varsity football team - win six games and make the playoffs.
The Chieftains were unable to knock their magic number down to two victories Friday night when they ran into buzz saw Marshall, which is ranked No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Poll.
Dowagiac (3-1) knew going into Friday night's contest that is would be facing the toughest part of its schedule in the Red Hawks and this week's opponent - Lakeshore.
This will be the final time the two rivals will face each other as the Chieftains move to the Wolverine Conference next season.
The Dowagiac-Lakeshore rivalry goes back for some time, but it really heated up in 1988 when former Chieftain coach Denny Dock accepted the varsity head coaching position of the Lancer program.
He was replaced by former Western Michigan University roommate Bernard Thomas, who came to Dowagiac as a Dock assistant coach.
Thomas was named the head coach in the summer of 1988 and he took Dowagiac to the playoffs in his second season at the helm after going 6-3 in his first campaign.
Dowagiac went 8-1 in 1989, losing to Three Rivers, a member of the Wolverine Conference, in the playoffs.
In his third season Thomas led the Chieftains to the 1990 Class BB state championship. The Chieftains lost just one game that season, a 17-7 decision to the Lakeshore Lancers.
There would be more memorable games between the Chieftains and Lancers, including the 1996 contest when Dowagiac was led almost single-handidly by senior quarterback Josh Pallas to victory.
The Chieftains went on to finish with the school's fourth undefeated season. Dowagiac reached the state semifinals before being eliminated by Kingsford at Central Michigan University.
Dock remains the head coach at Lakeshore, while Thomas stepped down three years ago, replaced by current coach Mike Stanger.
Dock and Thomas tried to downplay the rivalry as being personal and after a time the game became more about the two schools rather than the two coaches.
Thomas recalled several special games between the Chieftains and the Lancers, including the 1990 contest.
Thomas also recalled the 1996 game when Pallas led a second half comeback. He pointed out that the Lancers punting the ball to Brent Lesniak at the end of the provided the big spark.
Dowagiac Athletic Director Greg Younger, the quarterback of the 1990 state title team, recalled that game as well.