CALEDONIA, Mich. - The season finale for the Davenport football team was another nail-biter as they scored late to force overtime and eventually fell 34-27 against Wayne State. The Panthers played their third overtime game this season and pushed the Warriors to the brink by moving the ball for 427 yards including a season-high 280 yards through the air. Wayne State also moved the ball well rushing for 276 yards, the most given up by Davenport this season. The game was wild in the fourth quarter as both teams scored 14 points and combined for 338 yards.
Wayne State scored seven points on their opening drive which covered 67 yards in seven plays. Dakota Kupp completed all four pass attempts on the drive and Romello Brown rushed for a one-yard score over left guard. Davenport answered with a sustained drive which covered 80 yards in 11 plays. Haiden Majewski completed four passes on the drive including the scoring toss of 38 yards on a slant and run by
Nate Couturier. The PAT was blocked by Brady Beedon for the Warriors to make it 7-6 with 5:40 left in the first quarter.
Davenport forced a fumble recovered by
Jon Simmons near midfield but could not move the ball and punted away to end the quarter. The first possession of the second quarter proved to be a missed opportunity for Davenport as they drove 71 yards and used 5:17 but a
William Gist fumble at the one-yard line was recovered by the Warriors. Wayne State then moved 82 yards in 10 plays but Paul Graham missed a 34-yard field goal wide left. The Warriors got it back after a blocked punt and capitalized on a 24-yard field goal by Graham making it 10-6 with 1:04 until halftime.
In the second half, Davenport coughed it up early on their second play and the Warriors recovered at the DU 25. The defense held tough and forced another 24-yard field goal by Graham making it 13-6. DU tied it up with 4:50 left in the third as Couturier took a handoff around left end and cut back to the right for a 41-yard score on the fourth play of the drive. The real action began in the final quarter with the teams tied at 13. Wayne State scored on fourth-and-two with a 46-yard touchdown run by Demetrius Stinson making it 20-13 with 6:24 left.
Davenport moved 73 yards in 1:53 as
Deondre Moore caught a 57-yard touchdown pass for the longest offensive play of the season for the Panthers. Wayne State regained the lead at 27-20 as Corey Ester caught a 41-yard pass from Kupp which set up a one-yard run by Brown with 2:05 remaining. The Panthers went to work on offense and marched downfield 71 yards in 11 plays for the tying score with 10 seconds to play. Majewski lobbed a ball up for
Colin Smith who battled with a defender and hauled it in from 12 yards and
Julian Castro added the extra point. Wayne State put one final scare into the Panthers as Stinson took a handoff on the last play of regulation and ran 59 yards to the DU 8 before being run down by
Lamar Robbins.
The Warriors got the ball first in overtime and scored in five plays as Brown's third rushing touchdown, this one from four yards out, gave WSU a 34-27 lead. Davenport could not match it faced with a fourth-and-three at the WSU 18 when Majewski's pass was batted down by Anthony Pittman to end it. Stinson rushed for 201 yards on 20 carries for the Warriors. Kupp completed 14-of-24 passes for 181 yards. Majewski threw for 280 yards and three scores setting the school record for yards and tying it for passing touchdowns. Moore went for 127 yards on seven catches becoming the first DU receiver over 100 yards this season.
C.J. Thornton led the team with 10 tackles.
