ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The Davenport football team gets to say they are 1-0 for the first time in their three-year history with a dominant 44-7 win over Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon northwest of Chicago. The Panthers led from start to finish and got off on the right foot by taking the opening kickoff and scoring a touchdown. The drive covered 65 yards and
Seth Acda carried from two yards out on a sweep over left end for a 7-0 lead.
The Panthers continued to pile on the points in the second quarter as quarterback
Deondre Ford got to work throwing a 32-yard perfect pass to
Nate Couturier in the back corner of the end zone with 12:31 left in the second quarter. A big moment in the game came just over five minutes later when DU was forced with a fourth and 16 at the RMU 37. Ford went back to pass and found
Daronte Powers who made a leaping catch near the goal line and stretched across for a 37-yard score and a 19-0 lead.
Ford tossed his third touchdown of the second quarter with 3:56 left as Couturier was wide open in the middle of the field and Ford found him for a 45-yard strike capping off a 62-yard drive which lasted just 26 seconds. The PAT was no good on a rushing attempt after the previous two PAT kicks were blocked by the Eagles.
Ford set the school record with his fourth touchdown through the air hooking up with
Deondre Moore on a 58-yard score as Moore got behind the secondary and raced for a 32-0 lead after
Chris Ahmed added the extra point.
Haiden Majewski got some quality playing time in the third quarter under center and led the Panthers on a scoring drive. He connected on the team's fifth passing touchdown of the game to set a school record. Majewski found
Steven Jerome in the back right corner of the end zone and the jump ball went to Jerome from 11 yards with 3:05 left in the third. RMU found the end zone late in the third quarter to make it 39-7.
The Panthers outscored the Eagles, 5-0, in the fourth quarter as a bad snap over quarterback led to a safety at the 13:39 mark and then Ahmed made his first collegiate field goal from 32 yards on the right hash to conclude the scoring with 9:26 left in the game.
